Methods and systems for alerting users regarding availability of unconsumed content

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems are described for a media guidance application that limits the incentive for authorized users to share content with unauthorized users, while still allowing users to access content virtually anywhere. Specifically, the media guidance application allows an authorized user to receive only a portion of a media asset that he or she is authorized to access on a different device, after a designated time period, and/or when the remaining portion of the media asset is inaccessible.

BACKGROUND

In conventional systems, users have a plethora of media content at theirdisposal. Furthermore, given advances in technology, users are able toconsume content on devices on which they previously could not. Forexample, users may access media on one or more mobile (e.g.,smartphones, tablets, etc.) or stationary (e.g., televisions) devices.Thus, users may access content from virtually anywhere.

Despite this plethora of media content, users' consumption of this mediacontent (whether on a mobile or stationary device) may be interruptedbased on the circumstances of the user or the provider of the content.For example, some media content may only be available to a user from aprovider during a specific time period (e.g., during the remainder of aflight) or on a particular device (e.g., a stationary video player of anairplane). Accordingly, despite the ability of users to access contentfrom virtually anywhere, users may not be able to, due to restrictionsplaced on the content by content providers.

In many cases, the restrictions placed on content providers are done soin order to prevent unauthorized sharing of content. For example,content providers may wish to limit access to content to only a singledevice or for a specific time period in order to prevent one authorizeduser from sharing the content with numerous unauthorized users. Forexample, if authorized users are able to share content with unauthorizedusers, the total number of authorized users (e.g., that paid a contentprovider for the content) may be reduced.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, methods and systems are described herein for a mediaguidance application that limits the incentive for authorized users toshare content with unauthorized users, while still allowing users toaccess unconsumed content virtually anywhere. Specifically, the mediaguidance application allows an authorized user to receive only a portionof a media asset that he or she is authorized to access on a differentdevice, after a designated time period, and/or when the remainingportion of the media asset is inaccessible. More specifically, the mediaguidance application may only allow the authorized user to access aportion constituting unconsumed content. For example, as only theportion of the media asset, which he or she is authorized to access on adifferent device, after a designated time period, and/or when theremaining portion of the media asset is inaccessible, is available, theincentive of the user to share that portion with unauthorized users isreduced.

In some aspects, the media guidance application alerts users regardingavailability of unconsumed content. The media guidance application maygenerate for display a media listing for a media asset. For example, themedia listing may be a selectable listing that allows a user access orauthorization to access the media asset. In some embodiments, the medialisting may appear alongside other media listings.

The media guidance application may compare an amount of time ofunconsumed (e.g., unwatched, unheard, unread, etc.) content remaining inthe media asset and an amount of time that the media asset is availableto a user on a first device. For example, the media guidance applicationmay determine the amount of time of unconsumed content remaining in themedia asset and may determine the amount of time the media asset isavailable to the user on the first device. In some embodiments, theamount of time the media asset is available to the user on the firstdevice may be based on a length of a subscription to a content providerthat provides the media asset (e.g., a monthly subscription, a one-timeuse subscription such as a pay-per-view movie, a one-device onlysubscription such as a stationary video player on an airplane, etc.), abattery-life of the first device (e.g., the amount of battery-life leftin the first device will not be enough to fully consume the mediaasset), and/or a scheduling restriction of the user (e.g., the user muststop consuming a media asset due to a prior engagement). Furthermore, insome embodiments, the media guidance application may perform thecomparison (and/or any determinations) prior to playback of the mediaasset and/or during playback of the media asset. For example, the mediaguidance application may prompt a user to select a media listing byinforming the user that unconsumed portions of the media asset will beavailable later or on a different device.

Alternatively or additionally, the media guidance application maycontinually monitor the progress of the user to inform them of whetheror not he or she will finish the media asset (or whether the unconsumedportion will need to be consumed later or on a different device).

In response to determining that the amount of time of unconsumed contentremaining in the media asset exceeds the amount of time that the mediaasset is available to the user on the first device, the media guidanceapplication may generate for display an indication that a portion of themedia asset, corresponding to the unconsumed content remaining in themedia asset, is available for download to a second device. For example,in response to determining that the user may not be able to consume theentirety of the media asset, the media guidance application may allowthe user to access the unconsumed portion on a second device. In someembodiments, the indication may be simultaneously displayed with themedia listing (e.g., in order to prompt the user to select the mediaasset for playback as discussed above).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may, in response toa user selection of the indication, a subsequent user request, and/orthe end of a period of accessibility, extract the portion of the mediaasset that is not consumed and transmit (e.g., to another component ofthe device upon which the media guidance application is implemented, tothe second device, and/or to a third device (e.g., a web server) aninstruction to create a new media asset featuring only the portion ofthe media asset. For example, the new media asset may then be availablefor download to the second device (e.g., from the web server).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may wish to limitwhen a portion of the media asset may be available on a second device.For example, if a substantial portion of the media asset is available onthe second device, the disincentive to share the media asset isdecreased. Likewise, if only a factor of the media asset (e.g., a fewminutes or frames), or only a portion that the user is unlikely to wishto view remains unconsumed (e.g., the end credits) the media guidanceapplication may determine to not allow a user to access the portion onanother device.

For example, in response to determining that the amount of time ofunconsumed content remaining in the media asset exceeds the amount oftime that the media asset is available to the user on the first device,the media guidance application may retrieve a threshold amount of time(e.g., indicating the minimum or maximum amount of unconsumed contentthat triggers subsequent access to the portion of the media asset thatis unconsumed). The media guidance application may compare the amount oftime of unconsumed content remaining in the media asset to the thresholdamount of time and in response to determining that the amount of time ofunconsumed content remaining in the media asset does not correspond to(e.g., exceeds the threshold minimum or exceeds the threshold maximum)the threshold amount of time, not generating for display the indicationthat the portion of the media asset is available for download to thesecond device.

It should be noted that the systems and/or methods described above maybe applied to, or used in accordance with, other systems, methods and/orapparatuses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the disclosure will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative example of a display screen for use inperforming media guidance application operations in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows another illustrative example of a display screen used toprovide continued viewing options to the user with regards to mediacontent in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an illustrative user equipment device inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an illustrative media system in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a diagram describing a travel itinerary associated with acurrent trip of a user in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of illustrative steps for generating for displayan indication that a portion is available for download to a seconddevice in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of illustrative steps for comparing the amount oftime of unconsumed content remaining in the media asset to a thresholdamount of time in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of illustrative steps for determining whether togenerate for display an indication that a portion of the media asset,corresponding to the unconsumed content remaining in the media asset, isavailable for download to a second device in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure; and

FIG. 9 shows an illustrative example of pseudocode for determiningwhether to generate for display an indication that a portion of themedia asset, corresponding to the unconsumed content remaining in themedia asset, is available for download to a second device in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Methods and systems are described herein for a media guidanceapplication that limits the incentive for authorized users to sharecontent with unauthorized users, while still allowing users to accesscontent virtually anywhere. Specifically, the media guidance applicationallows an authorized user to receive only a portion of a media assetthat he or she is authorized to access on a different device, after adesignated time period, and/or when the remaining portion of the mediaasset is unaccessible.

As referred to herein, a “media guidance application,” “interactivemedia guidance application,” or “guidance application” refers to anapplication that provides an interface that allows users to efficientlynavigate content selections and easily identify content that they maydesire.

Media guidance applications may take various forms depending on thecontent for which they provide guidance. One typical type of mediaguidance application is an interactive television program guide.Interactive television program guides (sometimes referred to aselectronic program guides) are well-known guidance applications that,among other things, allow users to navigate among and locate many typesof content or media assets. Interactive media guidance applications maygenerate graphical user interface screens that enable a user to navigateamong, locate and select content. As referred to herein, the terms“media asset” and “content” should be understood to mean anelectronically consumable user asset, such as television programming, aswell as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (as in video-on-demand(VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streaming content, downloadablecontent, Webcasts, etc.), video clips, audio, content information,pictures, rotating images, documents, playlists, websites, articles,books, electronic books, blogs, advertisements, chat sessions, socialmedia, applications, games, and/or any other media or multimedia and/orcombination of the same.

As referred to herein, the term “multimedia” should be understood tomean content that utilizes at least two different content formsdescribed above, for example, text, audio, images, video, orinteractivity content forms. Content may be recorded, played, displayedor accessed by user equipment devices, but can also be part of a liveperformance.

The media guidance application and/or any instructions for performingany of the embodiments discussed herein may be encoded on computerreadable media. Computer readable media includes any media capable ofstoring data. The computer readable media may be transitory, including,but not limited to, propagating electrical or electromagnetic signals,or may be non-transitory including, but not limited to, volatile andnon-volatile computer memory or storage devices such as a hard disk,floppy disk, USB drive, DVD, CD, media cards, register memory, processorcaches, Random Access Memory (“RAM”), etc.

One of the functions of the media guidance application is to providemedia guidance data to users. As referred to herein, the phrase “mediaguidance data” or “guidance data” should be understood to mean any datarelated to content or data used in operating the guidance application.For example, the guidance data may include program information, guidanceapplication settings, user preferences, user profile information, medialistings, media-related information (e.g., broadcast times, broadcastchannels, titles, descriptions, ratings information (e.g., parentalcontrol ratings, critic's ratings, etc.), genre or category information,actor information, logo data for broadcasters' or providers' logos,etc.), media format (e.g., standard definition, high definition, 3D,etc.), advertisement information (e.g., text, images, media clips,etc.), on-demand information, blogs, websites, and any other type ofguidance data that is helpful for a user to navigate among and locatedesired content selections.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may also performmedia guidance application operations. As referred to herein, a “mediaguidance application operation” refers to any operation corresponding toproviding, receiving, and/or generating media guidance data forconsumption by a user. For example, media guidance applicationoperations include displaying media guidance data, providing options tonavigate, select, and edit media guidance data or content (e.g., a mediaasset) associated with media guidance data, and/or manipulating a deviceused to access (e.g., a display device), retrieve (e.g., a server),and/or associate media guidance data with a user (e.g., a user devicefor monitoring brain activity). It should be noted that any embodimentfeaturing one media guidance application operation (e.g., a fast-accessplayback operation) may also be applied to any other media guidanceapplication operation.

Other operations of a media guidance application are playing mediaassets and providing fast access playback operations for those mediaassets. As referred to herein, the phrase “fast-access playbackoperations” should be understood to mean any media guidance applicationoperation that pertains to playing back a non-linear media asset fasterthan normal playback speed or in a different order than the media assetis designed to be played, such as a fast-forward, rewind, skip, chapterselection, segment selection, skip segment, jump segment, next segment,previous segment, skip advertisement or commercial, next chapter,previous chapter or any other operation that does not play back themedia asset at normal playback speed. The fast-access playback operationmay be any playback operation that is not “play,” where the playoperation plays back the media asset at normal playback speed.

Still other operations of the media guidance application may include thecontrol of devices used to consume media assets. For example, a mediaguidance application operation may include turning a device on and off,raising the volume associated with a device, adjusting the displaysettings of a device, assigning parental controls, transferringinformation from one device to another, storing and/or recordingcontent, entering authorization information and/or payment information,etc.

Still other operations of the media guidance application may includecontinued viewing options.” As referred to herein, “continued viewingoptions” include options to download, request credit for unviewedcontent, request extensions to a period of accessibility, or any otheroperations that allows a user to access a media asset, or a portion of amedia asset, on a different device, after a designated time period,and/or when the remaining portion of the media asset is inaccessible.

Throughout this disclosure some embodiments discuss sharing a mediaasset, or sharing an authorization to access a media asset, on multipledevices. It should be noted that content (e.g., a media asset) generatedfor display on a first device may correspond to content (e.g., the samemedia asset) generated for display on a second device even though thecontent on each device is not identical (e.g., different formats,lengths, versions, compatibilities, etc.). For example, a media guidanceapplication may generate for display authorization data with a highdefinition media asset (e.g., on a high definition television) thatauthorizes the user to access the high definition media asset (e.g., orone or more versions of the media asset, such as a standard definitionversion of the media asset) on a second user device (e.g., asmartphone).

Alternatively, in some embodiments, sharing a media asset, or sharing anauthorization to access a media asset, on multiple devices may berelated to a single copy of a media asset. For example, the mediaguidance application may authorize multiple devices to access a singlecopy of a media asset stored at a particular repository. In such cases,the media guidance application may authorize only a single device toaccess the copy of the media asset at one time. Alternatively oradditionally, the media guidance application may create a copy of theparticular copy of the media asset for simultaneous display on multipledevices.

In some embodiments, access to the media asset or supplemental contentis determined according to one or more authorization terms. As referredto herein, an “authorization term” is any condition, criterion, orschedule, whether or not related to a particular contract, agreement,offer, or purchase, that sets limitations, or grants rights, regardingaccess to the media asset or supplemental content. For example, anauthorization term may relate to a length of time that the media assetmay be accessed, a number of times that the media asset may be accessed,a user authorized to access the media asset, an account authorized toaccess the media asset, a type of second user device that may access themedia asset, etc.).

In some embodiments, one authorization term may be dependent on anotherauthorization term. For example, an authorization term may indicate alength of time, or a particular modification of a determined length oftime, to allow a user to access a media asset based on whether or not auser accesses the media asset on a particular user device, a number oftimes that a user accesses the particular the media asset, etc. Forexample, an authorization term (or authorization terms) may include thata user may access a media asset two times and/or for two weeks.

It should be noted that in embodiments discussed throughout thisdisclosure “a length of time” may be measured in any temporal unit(e.g., seconds, minutes, days, years, etc.). In addition, a length oftime may include the length of time that is required for the performanceof one or more events. For example, the length of time may relate to thelength of time that a user takes to access the media asset, a length oftime that a media asset is available at one or more storage locations,or the length of time necessary for a triggering event to occur (e.g.,for a user to completely view the entire media asset).

In some embodiments, authorization data may correspond to userselections of terms. For example, the media guidance application mayreceive a first user request to access a media asset (e.g., a userrequest to order or select the media asset from a list of availablemedia assets) on a first user device in accordance with one or moreauthorization terms (e.g., a length of time that the media asset may beaccessed, a number of times that the media asset may be accessed, a userauthorized to access the media asset, an account authorized to accessthe media asset, a type of second user device that may access the mediaasset, etc.). The media guidance application may then selectauthorization terms that authorize the user to access the media asset inaccordance with the one or more authorization terms.

In some embodiments, one or more authorization terms may be included inauthorization data. As referred to herein, “authorization data” is anydata that indicates, includes, communicates, codifies, or represents oneor more authorization terms or otherwise facilitates the sharing ofauthorization to access a media asset between multiple devices. Forexample, authorization data may indicate to a repository of media assetswhether or not a user and/or user device is authorized to access a mediaasset based on one or more authorization terms. In some embodiments, amedia guidance application may determine the authorization termsassociated with the authorization data and compare the terms to statusinformation (e.g., the current data, the number of times a user hasalready accessed the media asset, etc.) to determine whether or notauthorization to the media asset corresponds to the authorization terms(e.g., a predetermined length of time or number of times to access themedia asset).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may generateauthorization data that includes the authorization terms of the useraccess, the media asset to be accessed, and any other information thatthe media guidance application and/or one or more user devices mayrequire. For example, the media guidance application may retrieve theauthorization data from a database of authorization data based on anidentifier in the media asset, in which the authorization dataauthorizes the user to access the media asset on a second user device inaccordance with the one or more authorization terms. For example, inresponse to identifying a media asset, the authorization terms, and/orthe account, device or user associated with the authorization, the mediaguidance application may determine appropriate authorization data.

It should be noted that while in some embodiments described hereinauthorization data is subject to a cross-reference with a database,embodiments in which the authorization data is not subject to across-reference with a database may also be used. For example, theauthorization data received may be complete any may indicate theauthorization terms without additional processing. In such cases, theauthorization data (and/or the media guidance application) does notrequire access to a database.

As referred to herein, “a media identifier” may refer to any informationused to distinguish a media asset from other media assets. For example,a media identifier may include, but is not limited to, a serial number,title, description, etc. The media guidance application may also receiveuser identifiers, user device identifiers, and/or account identifiers.For example, the one or more authorization terms may restrict (or grant)access to the media asset for particular users, devices, or accounts. Insuch cases, user identifiers, user device identifiers, or accountidentifiers, which refer to any information used to distinguish a user,device, or account from other users, devices, or accounts, respectively,may also be received (e.g., via user input) or determined automaticallyby the media guidance application.

In some embodiments, the authorization data may be continually updatedby the media guidance application. For example, the media guidanceapplication may update the authorization data to indicate a playbackposition in the media asset that corresponds to the viewing progress ofthe user. As the user continues to view the media asset (i.e., as theplayback position progresses), the media guidance application may updatethe authorization data to indicate this progress. Accordingly, if themedia asset is displayed on a second user device, the media asset may begenerated for display on a second user device at the current playbackposition of the user.

In some embodiments, the authorization data may be continually updatedby the media guidance application based on the one or more authorizationterms. For example, the media guidance application may determine accessto the media asset on the second user device is no longer in accordancewith the one or more authorization terms (e.g., the rental periodassociated with the media asset has expired), and the media guidanceapplication may remove the authorization data from simultaneous displaywith the media asset in response to determining that access to the mediaasset on the second user device is no longer in accordance with the oneor more authorization terms.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, the media guidance application mayupdate the authorization data based on subsequent user actions. Forexample, a user may receive additional or modified access to a mediaasset in response to paying an extra fee. In such cases, the mediaguidance application may adjust or modify the authorization dataassociated with and/or presented to the user. The modified authorizationdata may then be presented to a user (e.g., in a media asset).Alternatively or additionally, the authorization data (as modified) maybe stored in an online account or profile associated with the user.

Upon determining the proper authorization data, the media guidanceapplication may generate for display the authorization datasimultaneously with the media asset. For example, the authorization datamay be embedded in the media asset such that, while the authorizationdata may be detectable by a user device (e.g., a smartphone capturing animage or screenshot of the media asset with the embedded authorizationdata), the authorization data is not perceivable by a user (e.g., suchthat the presentation of the authorization data is distracting to theuser).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may notify the userthat the authorization data is being presented, has been generated,and/or has been transmitted to another device by generating for displayan indication. In some embodiments, authorization data may itselfconstitute an indication (e.g., if it appears on screen). For example,the authorization data may appear as an on-screen barcode (e.g., whichmay be decoded to indicate the one or more authorization terms).

For example, the media guidance application may generate for displayauthorization data that is perceivable to a user, even if the particularauthorization terms associated with the authorization data are notperceivable (e.g., an on-screen barcode). As used herein, “a barcode” isan optical machine-readable representation of one or more authorizationterms relating to the media asset with which the barcode is associated.Furthermore, barcodes as described herein may include barcodesrepresenting data by varying the widths and spacings of parallel lines(e.g., one-dimensional barcodes) or barcodes representing data usingrectangles, dots, hexagons and other geometric patterns (e.g.,two-dimensional barcodes).

Authorization data and/or barcodes representing authorization data maybe encoded and decoded by the media guidance application to encode anddecode the one or more authorization terms using various languages,symbologies, codes or other tests such as edge determination, minimumreflectance, symbol contrast, minimum edge contrast, modulation,defects, decodability, unused error correction, fixed pattern damage,grid non-uniformity, axial non-uniformity, etc.

Whether perceivable to a user or not, the media guidance application maygenerate for display authorization data that may be communicated toanother device by the other device scanning or reading the authorizationdata and/or barcode representing the authorization data using thetechniques and tests discussed above and/or comparing the readings to anencryption key and/or other standard. In some embodiments, scanning orreading the authorization data and/or barcode representing theauthorization data may occur by capturing an image, screen shot, orother data associated with the media asset and/or authorization data.

For example, to facilitate the access of the media asset on additionaluser devices, the media guidance application may present authorizationdata, which may allow another user device to access the media asset.Moreover, the authorization data may be embedded or presented with themedia asset such that a user may easily obtain the authorization data(e.g., by capturing an image of the media asset in which theauthorization data is embedded or presented).

For example, in some embodiments, the media guidance application mayreceive an additional user request to generate for display the mediaasset on a second user device. For example, the media guidanceapplication may receive a second user request to access a media asset ona second user device, in which the second user request includes an image(e.g., captured via a content capture component associated with thesecond user device) of the authorization data simultaneously displayedwith the media asset on a first user device. The media guidanceapplication may then cross-reference the image with the database ofauthorization data (or the decoded data associated with theauthorization data) to determine the one or more authorization terms.For example, the authorization data may represent the encoded one ormore authorization terms. To determine the one or more authorizationterms, the media guidance application may decode the authorization data.

The media guidance application may then process the one or moreauthorization terms to determine whether the one or more authorizationterms authorize the media asset to be accessed on the second userdevice. For example, the one or more authorization terms may indicatewhether or not the user (or second user device) is granted access to themedia asset. The media guidance application may then generate fordisplay the media asset on the second user device in response todetermining whether the one or more authorization terms authorize themedia asset to be accessed on the second user device. For example, inresponse to determining that the user (or second user device) isauthorized to access the media asset, the media guidance application maygenerate for display the media asset on the second user device and/oranother user device selected by the user.

The media guidance application may then process the one or moreauthorization terms to determine whether the one or more authorizationterms authorize the supplemental content to be accessed on the seconduser device, and generate for display the media asset on the second userdevice in response to determining whether the one or more authorizationterms authorize the supplemental content to be accessed on the seconduser device.

It should be noted, that in some embodiments, user, device, and/oraccount identifiers may all identify a single entity. Therefore,embodiments related to the identification of a particular user may alsobe applied to the identification of a particular device and/or accountand vice versa. For example, a device may be associated with aparticular user or account. Likewise, an account may be associated witha particular user or device. For example, a user may be associated witha particular account such as a social network or other on-line account.The media guidance application may further retrieve a user and/ordevices associated with the social network account from a user profileassociated with the account.

In some embodiments, a media guidance application operation may includereceiving information from a particular source (e.g., a website, aprofile associated with a user, a content provider, a social medianetwork, etc.) for use in determining information about media content,determining a portion of a media content subject to an operation (e.g.,unconsumed content), determining the availability of content, extractingcontent, providing extracted content, etc.

For example, the media guidance application may retrieve a list offriends (e.g., a social network buddy list), contacts (e.g., retrievedfrom a phone/text message/e-mail account associated with the user),and/or other listings featuring other entities with known associationsto the user and obtain information about media content such as whatportions, if any, were important to one or more plotlines of the mediacontent, what portions were interesting (or not interesting), whatportions may be skipped or fast-forwarded through, what content shouldbe included in a supplemental download of a portion of media content(e.g., whether an unconsumed portion was not consumed due to limitedaccess or disinterest by a user). The media guidance application maycompare these portions to unconsumed content remaining in a media assetto determine whether or not to provide the unconsumed content to theuser later or on a different device.

As used herein, a “social network” refers to a platform that facilitatesnetworking and/or social relations among people who, for example, shareinterests, activities, backgrounds, and/or real-life connections. Insome cases, social networks may facilitate communication betweenmultiple user devices (e.g., computers, televisions, smartphones,tablets, etc.) associated with different users by exchanging contentfrom one device to another via a social media server. As used herein, a“social media server” refers to a computer server that facilitates asocial network. For example, a social media server owned/operated/usedby a social media provider may make content (e.g., status updates,microblog posts, images, graphic messages, etc.) associated with a firstuser accessible to a second user that is within the same social networkas the first user. In such cases, classes of entities may correspond tothe level of access and/or the amount or type of content associated witha first user that is accessible to a second user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may retrieveinformation that indicates the availability of media content. Asdescribed herein, the “availability” of media content relates to whetheror not a user may consume media content at a given time. Theavailability may be based on terms (e.g., subscription and/or use terms)of a provider of the media content, based on issues (such asconnectivity) associated with obtaining the media content, based oncircumstances of the user (e.g., the schedule of the user), based oncircumstances of a user device (e.g., battery life, software and/orhardware compatibility issues, etc.), and/or based on any other factorthat may determine whether or not a user can access media content at agiven time.

In some embodiments, the availability of media content may be describedas an availability window. As referred to herein, an “availabilitywindow” is a period of time, whether contiguous or non-contiguous, atwhich a user may access the media content. For example, an availabilitywindow may include a period of time when a provider of the media contentallows a user to access the content or when a user is able to access themedia content. For example, the availability window may be expressed asa range of dates (e.g., beginning on a first date and ending on a seconddate) or may be expressed relative to one or more dates. For example,the availability window may be expressed as any date before, after, oron a threshold date.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may notify andrecommend action be taken (e.g., providing continued viewing options) inresponse to determining that the availability of media content may endbefore a user finishes consuming the media content.

For example, if the media content is only available to a user from aprovider during a specific time period (e.g., during the month ofAugust), and the media guidance application determines, given thecurrent viewing progress of the user, that the user is unlikely tofinish the media content (e.g., an episode of a program series or theentire program series) during the time period, the media guidanceapplication may alert the user and/or recommend one or more correctiveactions such as a continued viewing option. In another example, a mobiledevice of a user may need Internet connectivity to present mediacontent, and the media guidance application may determine thatconnectivity issues may arise at a predetermined time (e.g., based onprior history of use). The media guidance application may determinewhether or not media content currently being consumed by the user willbe completed prior to the time of limited connectivity. If not, themedia guidance application may alert the user and/or recommend one ormore corrective actions.

In yet another example, a mobile device of a user may be low on batterypower, and the media guidance application may determine that the mobiledevice will exhaust its power at a predetermined time (e.g., based onbattery usage rates). The media guidance application may determinewhether or not media content currently being consumed by the user willbe completed prior to the power exhaustion. If not, the media guidanceapplication may alert the user and/or recommend one or more correctiveactions. Finally, in another example, despite content being available toa user, the schedule of the user may indicate a time at which the usercan no longer consume the media content. The media guidance applicationmay determine whether or not media content currently being consumed bythe user will be completed prior to that time. If not, the mediaguidance application may alert the user and/or recommend one or morecorrective actions.

Additionally or alternatively, the media guidance application mayprovide supplemental content (e.g., a portion of the remaining mediaasset constituting unconsumed content, textual summary, highlight clips,etc.) regarding the portion of the media asset that was unconsumed. Asused herein, “supplemental content” refers to any content related tomedia content that supplements a current presentation of the mediacontent with information related to the portion of the media contentthat was unconsumed. Supplemental content may include content featuringaudio, video, and/or textual data associated with one or more portionsof the media content. For example, the supplemental content may describethe content or context of the portion of the media content that was notconsumed. In some embodiments, the supplemental content may be availableduring, before, or after a user selection of the indication, asubsequent user request, and/or the end of a period of availability. Forexample, while a media listing for the media asset is displayed, themedia guidance application may overlay an indication of the unconsumedcontent being available later or on a different device.

As used herein, a “portion” of the media content refers to the sectionof the media content between two points of playback of media content. Itshould be noted that, in some embodiments, a portion of media contentmay span one or more individual media assets. For example, a portion mayinclude a frame, a scene, a chapter, an episode, a season, or any otherdivision of media content. As used herein, a “point of playback” refersto a finite instance in the playback of media content. Media content mayinclude one or more points of playback during its play length. Forexample, if the media content is a video, a point of playback may referto a particular frame of the video.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may track a viewingprogress of a user through a series of media content, in which theseries of media content has an availability window. As used herein, a“viewing progress” refers to a current point of playback of the userand/or any portion of the media content into which that point ofplayback may fall. For example, the viewing progress of the user mayinclude a particular frame or minute mark of media content or may referto a particular portion (e.g., a scene, episode, etc.). To determine theviewing progress of the user, the media guidance application may employone or more user profiling techniques.

For example, the media guidance application may continually monitor thepoint of playback of a user through media content. As used herein, a“series of media content” refers to media content that is related to apredetermined sequence. For example, a series of media content mayinclude one or more media assets (e.g., episodes) a serial program. Inanother example, a series of media content may refer to one or moreseasons of a serial program. In yet another example, a series of mediacontent may refer to one or more series of programs (e.g., a program andrelated spin-off programs) that include common characters, plotlines, orcircumstances that evolve in a serial nature.

The media guidance application may use one or more techniques formonitoring the viewing progress of a user and/or determine what portion,if any, of a media asset was not consumed. For example, the mediaguidance application may use active monitoring (e.g., polling and/orquerying the user as to whether or not the user has viewed a portion ofmedia content) or passive monitoring (e.g., determining a user hasviewed a portion of media content without polling and/or querying theuser). For example, the media guidance application may track the currentpoint of playback and store the last known point of playback of themedia content.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may also update theviewing progress of a user to reflect received user inputs. For example,if the last known point of playback stored by the media guidanceapplication occurs during the third episode in a series, and the userselects to view the fifth episode of the series, the media guidanceapplication may update the viewing progress of the user such that theviewing progress now reflects that the current point of playback is inthe fifth episode of the series.

Accordingly, it should be noted that the viewing progress of the usermay reflect that the user has fast-forwarded through, skipped over, orotherwise not consumed a portion of the media asset. Furthermore, itshould also be noted that “completing” or “finishing” media content doesnot necessarily require that the user viewed or played back all portionsof the media content. For example, completing or finishing media contentrefers to the subjective opinion of the user and whether or not the useris satisfied that the portion or portions of the media content viewed orplayed back constitutes the entire media content. For example, a usermay have completed consuming media content when the user no longerwishes to view any more portions of the media content whether or not allportions of the media content have actually been viewed (or beendetermined to have been viewed by the media guidance application). Forexample, a user may complete media content if the user has viewed themost recently released portion (e.g., episode) of a series of mediacontent even if there are previous portions that the user has notviewed. In another example, the user may complete a media asset (e.g.,an episode of serial programming) even if the user has not viewed themedia asset in its entirety (e.g., the user did not view the end creditsassociated with the media asset).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may furtherdetermine whether or not a user has completed a portion of media contentbased on the percentage of the portion consumed or the content of theportion that was consumed. For example, the media guidance applicationmay determine whether or not the user has viewed a threshold amount(e.g., eighty percent, ninety percent, etc.) of the portion for themedia guidance application to consider the portion to have been viewed.Alternatively or additionally, the media guidance application maydetermine that the user has viewed the substantive part of the portion(e.g., the body of the episode) and that the user does not need to viewthe non-substantive part of the portion (e.g., the end credits) for themedia guidance application to consider the portion to have been viewed.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may estimate a dateof completion of the series of media content based on the viewingprogress of the user. It should be noted that the “date” of completionmay refer to any unit of time. For example, the date may refer to aspecific month, day, hour, minute, etc.

To estimate the date of completion, the media guidance application mayuse any suitable mathematic calculation such as dividing the amount ofremaining media content to be viewed (as measured in any suitable unit(e.g., minutes of media content remaining, episodes of media contentremaining, seasons of media content remaining, etc.)) by the rate atwhich a user views the media content (e.g., average based on a userviewing history) to determine the amount of time (e.g., measured in thesame units as the amount of remaining media content) required tocomplete the media asset.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may calculate thevariables in terms of a viewing session. As used herein, a “viewingsession” refers to a period of time characterized by the user'sconsumption of one or more portions of the media content. For example, aviewing session may include typical temporal measurements (e.g., amonth, week, day, etc.) or may refer to particular instances when theuser consumes the media content.

For example, the user may “binge-watch” portions of media content. Forexample, the media guidance application may detect that the usertypically watches several episodes or seasons of media content in ashort period of time. Accordingly, to estimate the data of completion,the media guidance application may determine the average number ofportions of the media content consumed during a binge-watching viewingsession and divide the number of portions of the media content remainingto determine the number of viewing sessions that will be required tocomplete the media content. The media guidance application may thendetermine the frequency at which the user conducts the viewing sessionsto determine a date at which the media content will be completed. Basedon the current date, and rate of viewing sessions, the media guidanceapplication may estimate a completion date of the media content.

For example, the media guidance application may determine a rate atwhich the user consumes the series of media content as well as determinea length of the series of media content. The media guidance applicationmay then determine, given the rate at which the user consumes the seriesof media content and the length of the series of media content, anamount of time required to consume the entire length of the series ofmedia content, and add the amount of time required to consume the entirelength of the series of media content to a current date.

The media guidance application may determine whether the date ofcompletion corresponds to the availability window as discussed above.For example, the media guidance application may determine whether or notthe estimated date of completion falls within the time period duringwhich the media content is available. In such cases, the media guidanceapplication may determine whether or not the estimated date ofcompletion is included within the range of dates associated with theavailability window. In another example, the media guidance applicationmay determine that the availability window corresponds to the release ofa new media content related to already released media content. Forexample, the media guidance application may determine that the userwishes to consume complete already-released media content (e.g.,previous seasons of a television program) before new media content isreleased (e.g., before the start of the new season of the televisionprogram). In such cases, the media guidance application may determinewhether or not the estimated date of completion before or on a dateassociated with the release of the new media content. For example, theseries of media content may correspond to a program series with a finitenumber of released episodes, and the date of completion may correspondto a date when the viewing progress of the user includes an episode, ofthe finite number of released episodes, that was most recently released.

In response to determining that the date of completion does notcorrespond to the availability window, the media guidance applicationmay recommend an action to accelerate the viewing progress of the user.For example, the media guidance application may recommend an action(e.g., corresponding to any media guidance application operationdiscussed above) that accelerates the viewing progress of the user byadvancing a current point of playback in the series of media content toa later point of playback in the series of media content. For example,in response to determining that the user will not finish a movie giventhe current playback position of the user, the media guidanceapplication may recommend that the user fast-forward or skip over aportion of the movie such that the user may finish the movie.

In some embodiments, the availability of media content may be keyed to acurrent trip of a user (e.g., in order to entertain the user while theuser is travelling). In such cases, the media guidance application maymonitor the media content to determine whether or not the user willcomplete the media content based on the availability window, whichcorresponds to the length of the current trip. In some embodiments, themedia guidance application may determine an amount of time remaining ina current trip of a user. As used herein, a “current trip” of a userrefers to a distinctive movement of a user defined by a travelitinerary. As used herein, a “travel itinerary” refers to a descriptionof the circumstances and/or progress of a current trip of a user. Forexample, a travel itinerary may include numerous details associated withthe travel itinerary, including, but not limited to, the location ofdeparture and/or arrival (e.g., including, but not limited to, thegeographical location, entry/exit requirements, customs and/oractivities associated with the location, things to do, cultural elementsand/or attractions, etc.), length of travel (e.g., including, but notlimited to, time and/or distance spent travelling, time spent at one ormore locations, etc.), time of departure and/or arrival (e.g., includingany time zone changes), anticipated stops (e.g., layovers), route (e.g.,either currently taken or expected to take), of the current trip of theuser. In addition, details associated with the travel itinerary mayinclude activities or occurrences that occur before or after a currenttrip. For example, a business meeting scheduled a day after the end of acurrent trip (e.g., as indicated by a calendar application associatedwith the user) may be related to the current trip (e.g., a user wastravelling to the business meeting).

For example, in some embodiments, the travel itinerary describes,including, but not limited to, the destination of a current trip, theroute of a current trip, and the length of time associated with thecurrent trip. For example, the media guidance application may use thetravel itinerary of the current trip of the user to determine that theuser will be traveling for four hours.

In some embodiments, a current trip may be divided into one or moresub-trips, and the media guidance application may determine lengthassociate with each sub-trip. For example, a trip may include severaldifferent sub-trips defined by different modes of transportation (e.g.,a car ride to an airport, an airplane flight to a different city, a busride to a hotel, etc.). In another example, sub-trips may be defined bydifferent destinations (e.g., an airplane flight to one city, a layoverat the city, a second airplane flight to a different city, etc.).

Throughout this disclosure, embodiments and examples are discussed withreference to various methods and modes of transportation. It should benoted that any embodiments described herein with reference to one methodor mode of transportation may also be applied to another mode oftransportation. For example, an embodiment or example describing the useof a media guidance application in relation to an airplane (or any othermethod or mode of transportation) may also be applied to a cruise ship,bus, train, car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc., or any other method or modeof transportation, whether public or private, and whether poweredmechanically (e.g., car, train, etc.), manually (e.g., walking, bicycle,etc.), or powered by any other means (e.g., horse, sailboat, etc.). Inaddition, the media guidance application monitors for changes in eitherthe determined travel itinerary (e.g., an adjustment of the expectedarrival time) or the determined objective.

In order to detect changes and/or updates in either the determinedtravel itinerary and/or how long a media asset will remain available(e.g., from a stationary video player in an airplane), the mediaguidance application may incorporate or have access to a detectionmodule that may include various components (e.g., a video detectioncomponent, an audio detection component, bio-metric component, etc.).Upon detecting either a change in the travel itinerary or a change inthe determined objective, the media guidance application may rectify theplaylist based on the change.

The media guidance application may also determine an amount of timeremaining in a media asset and/or media content being consumed by theuser during the current trip. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine an amount of time between a current point ofplayback (e.g., the forty-minute mark) in the media asset and an endpoint (e.g., the sixty-minute mark in an hour-long media asset) of themedia asset.

The media guidance application may compare the amount of time remainingin the current trip to the amount of time remaining in the media asset.For example, the media guidance application may compare the amount oftime remaining in the current trip to the amount of time remaining inthe media asset to determine whether or not the user will finish themedia asset prior to the end of the current trip.

In response to detecting a discrepancy between the amount of timeremaining in the current trip and the amount of time remaining in themedia asset, the media guidance application may provide a continuedviewing option to rectify the discrepancy. As used herein, a“discrepancy” refers to a situation in which the amount of timeremaining in the current trip is not enough time to consume the mediaasset and/or media content.

In some embodiments, the time remaining in the current trip may notnecessarily refer to the arrival of a user at his or her destination,and instead refer to a period at which the user will no longer be ableto consume the media asset and/or media content. For example, during anairplane flight, the user may need to turn off a user device upon whichthe user is viewing a media asset prior to actually landing. The mediaguidance application may incorporate such limitations when determiningthe amount of time remaining in the current trip. Likewise, the mediaguidance application may determine that a user may lose connectivity(e.g., when connectivity is necessary to view a media asset) at aparticular portion of the current trip (e.g., when entering anunderground tunnel). Accordingly, the media guidance application mayincorporate such limitations when determining the amount of timeremaining in the current trip and/or break the trip into a number ofsub-trips.

It should also be noted that any embodiment discussed herein referringto the completion of a media asset or media content may also be appliedto the completion of a portion of the media asset and/or media content.For example, the media guidance application may break media content intovarious portions and assign the various portions to individual sub-tripsof the current trip. The media guidance application may then determinewhether or not a particular portion assigned to a sub-trip will becompleted by the end of the sub-trip. If not, the media guidanceapplication may recommend actions described herein.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may generateon-screen icons, menus, overlays, or options featuring recommendedactions to be performed. In some embodiments, the media guidanceapplication uses non-visual indications such as audio announcements. Forexample, the media guidance application may generate for display anoverlay featuring various options for fast-forwarding, skipping aportion of the media asset, etc. Additionally, the media guidanceapplication may generate for display summary information, as discussedabove, associated with a portion of the media asset subject to thefast-access playback operation.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may also monitor theprogress of the current trip of the user (e.g., as discussed below inrelation to FIG. 3 ). For example, the media guidance application mayreceive updates to the travel itinerary. In response to determining achange in the determined travel itinerary, the media guidanceapplication may recalculate the amount of time remaining in the currenttrip. After recalculating the amount of time remaining in the currenttrip, the media guidance application may recommend, if any, differentfast-access playback operations.

With the advent of the Internet, mobile computing, and high-speedwireless networks, users are accessing media on user equipment deviceson which they traditionally did not. As referred to herein, the phrase“user equipment device,” “user equipment,” “user device,” “electronicdevice,” “electronic equipment,” “media equipment device,” or “mediadevice” should be understood to mean any device for accessing thecontent described above, such as a television, a Smart TV, a set-topbox, an integrated receiver decoder (IRD) for handling satellitetelevision, a digital storage device, a digital media receiver (DMR), adigital media adapter (DMA), a streaming media device, a DVD player, aDVD recorder, a connected DVD, a local media server, a BLU-RAY player, aBLU-RAY recorder, a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PC/TV), a PCmedia server, a PC media center, a hand-held computer, a stationarytelephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, aportable video player, a portable music player, a portable gamingmachine, a smart phone, or any other television equipment, computingequipment, or wireless device, and/or combination of the same. In someembodiments, the user equipment device may have a front facing screenand a rear facing screen, multiple front screens, or multiple angledscreens. In some embodiments, the user equipment device may have a frontfacing camera and/or a rear facing camera. On these user equipmentdevices, users may be able to navigate among and locate the same contentavailable through a television. Consequently, media guidance may beavailable on these devices, as well. The guidance provided may be forcontent available only through a television, for content available onlythrough one or more of other types of user equipment devices, or forcontent available both through a television and one or more of the othertypes of user equipment devices. The media guidance applications may beprovided as on-line applications (i.e., provided on a website), or asstand-alone applications or clients on user equipment devices. Variousdevices and platforms that may implement media guidance applications aredescribed in more detail below.

FIGS. 1-2 show illustrative display screens that may be used to providemedia guidance data such as continued viewing options. The displayscreens shown in FIGS. 1-2 may be implemented on any suitable userequipment device or platform. While the displays of FIGS. 1-2 areillustrated as full screen displays, they may also be fully or partiallyoverlaid over content being displayed. A user may indicate a desire toaccess content information by selecting a selectable option provided ina display screen (e.g., a menu option, a listings option, an icon, ahyperlink, etc.) or pressing a dedicated button (e.g., a GUIDE button)on a remote control or other user input interface or device. In responseto the user's indication, the media guidance application may provide adisplay screen with media guidance data organized in one of severalways, such as by time and channel in a grid, by time, by channel, bysource, by content type, by category (e.g., movies, sports, news,children, or other categories of programming), or other predefined,user-defined, or other organization criteria.

FIG. 1 shows illustrative grid program listings display 100 arranged bytime and channel that also enables access to different types of contentin a single display. Display 100 may include grid 102 with: (1) a columnof channel/content type identifiers 104, where each channel/content typeidentifier (which is a cell in the column) identifies a differentchannel or content type available; and (2) a row of time identifiers106, where each time identifier (which is a cell in the row) identifiesa time block of programming. Grid 102 also includes cells of programlistings, such as program listing 108, where each listing provides thetitle of the program provided on the listing's associated channel andtime. With a user input device, a user can select program listings bymoving highlight region 110. Information relating to the program listingselected by highlight region 110 may be provided in program informationregion 112. Region 112 may include, for example, the program title, theprogram description, the time the program is provided (if applicable),the channel the program is on (if applicable), the program's rating, andother desired information.

Furthermore, the media guidance application may provide indication 130that indicates that a media listing is associated with a continuedviewing option. As referred to herein, “an indication” includes anyaudio, video, or textual data that conveys to a user a continued viewingoption (e.g., the ability to download unconsumed content at a later dateor on a different device) is available.

In addition to providing access to linear programming (e.g., contentthat is scheduled to be transmitted to a plurality of user equipmentdevices at a predetermined time and is provided according to aschedule), the media guidance application also provides access tonon-linear programming (e.g., content accessible to a user equipmentdevice at any time and is not provided according to a schedule).Non-linear programming may include content from different contentsources including on-demand content (e.g., VOD), Internet content (e.g.,streaming media, downloadable media, etc.), locally stored content(e.g., content stored on any user equipment device described above orother storage device), or other time-independent content. On-demandcontent may include movies or any other content provided by a particularcontent provider (e.g., HBO On Demand providing “The Sopranos” and “CurbYour Enthusiasm”). HBO ON DEMAND is a service mark owned by Time WarnerCompany L.P. et al. and THE SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM aretrademarks owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Internet content mayinclude web events, such as a chat session or Webcast, or contentavailable on-demand as streaming content or downloadable content throughan Internet web site or other Internet access (e.g. FTP).

Grid 102 may provide media guidance data for non-linear programmingincluding on-demand listing 114, recorded content listing 116, andInternet content listing 118. A display combining media guidance datafor content from different types of content sources is sometimesreferred to as a “mixed-media” display. Various permutations of thetypes of media guidance data that may be displayed that are differentthan display 100 may be based on user selection or guidance applicationdefinition (e.g., a display of only recorded and broadcast listings,only on-demand and broadcast listings, etc.). As illustrated, listings114, 116, and 118 are shown as spanning the entire time block displayedin grid 102 to indicate that selection of these listings may provideaccess to a display dedicated to on-demand listings, recorded listings,or Internet listings, respectively. In some embodiments, listings forthese content types may be included directly in grid 102. Additionalmedia guidance data may be displayed in response to the user selectingone of the navigational icons 120. (Pressing an arrow key on a userinput device may affect the display in a similar manner as selectingnavigational icons 120.)

Display 100 may also include video region 122, advertisement 124, andoptions region 126. Video region 122 may allow the user to view and/orpreview programs that are currently available, will be available, orwere available to the user. The content of video region 122 maycorrespond to, or be independent from, one of the listings displayed ingrid 102. Grid displays including a video region are sometimes referredto as picture-in-guide (PIG) displays. PIG displays and theirfunctionalities are described in greater detail in Satterfield et al.U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,378, issued May 13, 2003 and Yuen et al. U.S. Pat.No. 6,239,794, issued May 29, 2001, which are hereby incorporated byreference herein in their entireties. PIG displays may be included inother media guidance application display screens of the embodimentsdescribed herein.

Advertisement 124 may provide an advertisement for content that,depending on a viewer's access rights (e.g., for subscriptionprogramming), is currently available for viewing, will be available forviewing in the future, or may never become available for viewing, andmay correspond to or be unrelated to one or more of the content listingsin grid 102. Advertisement 124 may also be for products or servicesrelated or unrelated to the content displayed in grid 102. Advertisement124 may be selectable and provide further information about content,provide information about a product or a service, enable purchasing ofcontent, a product, or a service, provide content relating to theadvertisement, etc. Advertisement 124 may be targeted based on a user'sprofile/preferences, monitored user activity, the type of displayprovided, or on other suitable targeted advertisement bases.

While advertisement 124 is shown as rectangular or banner shaped,advertisements may be provided in any suitable size, shape, and locationin a guidance application display. In some embodiments, an advertisementmay relate to, or advertise, a continued viewing option and/or the factthat a media asset is associated with a continued viewing option. Forexample, advertisement 124 may be provided as a rectangular shape thatis horizontally adjacent to grid 102. This is sometimes referred to as apanel advertisement. In addition, advertisements may be overlaid overcontent or a guidance application display or embedded within a display.Advertisements may also include text, images, rotating images, videoclips, or other types of content described above. Advertisements may bestored in a user equipment device having a guidance application, in adatabase connected to the user equipment, in a remote location(including streaming media servers), or on other storage means, or acombination of these locations. Providing advertisements in a mediaguidance application is discussed in greater detail in, for example,Knudson et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0110499,filed Jan. 17, 2003; Ward, III et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,997, issuedJun. 29, 2004; and Schein et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,714, issued May 14,2002, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in theirentireties. It will be appreciated that advertisements may be includedin other media guidance application display screens of the embodimentsdescribed herein.

Options region 126 may allow the user to access different types ofcontent, media guidance application displays, and/or media guidanceapplication features. Options region 126 may be part of display 100 (andother display screens described herein), or may be invoked by a user byselecting an on-screen option or pressing a dedicated or assignablebutton on a user input device. The selectable options within optionsregion 126 may concern features related to program listings in grid 102or may include options available from a main menu display. Featuresrelated to program listings may include searching for other air times orways of receiving a program, recording a program, enabling seriesrecording of a program, setting program and/or channel as a favorite,purchasing a program, or other features. Options available from a mainmenu display may include search options, VOD options, parental controloptions, Internet options, cloud-based options, device synchronizationoptions, second screen device options, options to access various typesof media guidance data displays, options to subscribe to a premiumservice, options to edit a user's profile, options to access a browseoverlay, or other options.

The media guidance application may be personalized based on a user'spreferences. A personalized media guidance application allows a user tocustomize displays and features to create a personalized “experience”with the media guidance application. This personalized experience may becreated by allowing a user to input these customizations and/or by themedia guidance application monitoring user activity to determine varioususer preferences. Users may access their personalized guidanceapplication by logging in or otherwise identifying themselves to theguidance application. Customization of the media guidance applicationmay be made in accordance with a user profile. The customizations mayinclude varying presentation schemes (e.g., color scheme of displays,font size of text, etc.), aspects of content listings displayed (e.g.,only HDTV or only 3D programming, user-specified broadcast channelsbased on favorite channel selections, re-ordering the display ofchannels, recommended content, etc.), desired recording features (e.g.,recording or series recordings for particular users, recording quality,etc.), parental control settings, customized presentation of Internetcontent (e.g., presentation of social media content, e-mail,electronically delivered articles, etc.) and other desiredcustomizations.

The media guidance application may allow a user to provide user profileinformation or may automatically compile user profile information. Themedia guidance application may, for example, monitor the content theuser accesses and/or other interactions the user may have with theguidance application. Additionally, the media guidance application mayobtain all or part of other user profiles that are related to aparticular user (e.g., from other web sites on the Internet the useraccesses, such as www.allrovi.com, from other media guidanceapplications the user accesses, from other interactive applications theuser accesses, from another user equipment device of the user, etc.),and/or obtain information about the user from other sources that themedia guidance application may access. As a result, a user can beprovided with a unified guidance application experience across theuser's different user equipment devices. This type of user experience isdescribed in greater detail below in connection with FIG. 4 . Additionalpersonalized media guidance application features are described ingreater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005, Boyer et al., U.S. Pat. No.7,165,098, issued Jan. 16, 2007, and Ellis et al., U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2002/0174430, filed Feb. 21, 2002, which arehereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

Another display arrangement for providing media guidance is shown inFIG. 2 . Display 200 includes media asset 202. For example, in responseto determining that media asset 202 will not be completed during theavailability window associated with media asset 202, the media guidanceapplication has generated indication 204 and options 208, 210, and 212.

For example, the media content may only be available for another thirtyminutes, and the media guidance application determines, given thecurrent viewing progress of the user, that the user is unlikely tofinish the media content within the thirty minutes. For example, themedia guidance application may determine that media asset 202 has fortyminutes remaining in its play length. In another example, a mobiledevice upon which display 200 may require Internet connectivity topresent media asset 202, and the media guidance application maydetermine that connectivity issues may arise at a predetermined timeshortly. For example, the media guidance application may determine(e.g., based on the travel itinerary) that a user will be travellingoutside the range of its Internet provider carrier shortly.

The media guidance application may also determine that the mobile deviceupon which media asset 202 is being presented has only ten minutes ofpower remaining, and thus will not be able to finish presenting mediaasset 202. Likewise, a calendar function incorporated into, oraccessible by, the media guidance application may determine that a userwill need to stop viewing media asset 202 in twenty minutes due to apreviously scheduled appointment.

Accordingly, the media guidance application has notified the user viaindication 204 and has recommended actions (e.g., options 208, 210, and212) to allow the user to complete the media content. For example, themedia guidance application has provided recommendations for downloadingunconsumed content (e.g., option 208), requesting a credit forunconsumed content (e.g., option 210), and requesting an extension oftime to view unconsumed content.

Users may access content and the media guidance application (and itsdisplay screens described above and below) from one or more of theiruser equipment devices. FIG. 3 shows a generalized embodiment ofillustrative user equipment device 300. More specific implementations ofuser equipment devices are discussed below in connection with FIG. 4 .User equipment device 300 may receive content and data via input/output(hereinafter “I/O”) path 302. I/O path 302 may provide content (e.g.,broadcast programming, on-demand programming, Internet content, contentavailable over a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN),and/or other content) and data to control circuitry 304, which includesprocessing circuitry 306 and storage 308. Control circuitry 304 may beused to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable datausing I/O path 302. I/O path 302 may connect control circuitry 304 (andspecifically processing circuitry 306) to one or more communicationspaths (described below). I/O functions may be provided by one or more ofthese communications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 3 toavoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Control circuitry 304 may be based on any suitable processing circuitrysuch as processing circuitry 306. As referred to herein, processingcircuitry should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and may includea multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or anysuitable number of cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments,processing circuitry may be distributed across multiple separateprocessors or processing units, for example, multiple of the same typeof processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multipledifferent processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel Corei7 processor). In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 executesinstructions for a media guidance application stored in memory (i.e.,storage 308). Specifically, control circuitry 304 may be instructed bythe media guidance application to perform the functions discussed aboveand below. For example, the media guidance application may provideinstructions to control circuitry 304 to generate the media guidancedisplays. In some implementations, any action performed by controlcircuitry 304 may be based on instructions received from the mediaguidance application.

In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry 304 may includecommunications circuitry suitable for communicating with a guidanceapplication server or other networks or servers. The instructions forcarrying out the above mentioned functionality may be stored on theguidance application server. Communications circuitry may include acable modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, adigital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, Ethernet card,or a wireless modem for communications with other equipment, or anyother suitable communications circuitry. Such communications may involvethe Internet or any other suitable communications networks or paths(which is described in more detail in connection with FIG. 4 ). Inaddition, communications circuitry may include circuitry that enablespeer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices, or communicationof user equipment devices in locations remote from each other (describedin more detail below).

Memory may be an electronic storage device provided as storage 308 thatis part of control circuitry 304. As referred to herein, the phrase“electronic storage device” or “storage device” should be understood tomean any device for storing electronic data, computer software, orfirmware, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, hard drives,optical drives, digital video disc (DVD) recorders, compact disc (CD)recorders, BLU-RAY disc (BD) recorders, BLU-RAY 3D disc recorders,digital video recorders (DVR, sometimes called a personal videorecorder, or PVR), solid state devices, quantum storage devices, gamingconsoles, gaming media, or any other suitable fixed or removable storagedevices, and/or any combination of the same. Storage 308 may be used tostore various types of content described herein as well as mediaguidance data described above. Nonvolatile memory may also be used(e.g., to launch a boot-up routine and other instructions). Cloud-basedstorage, described in relation to FIG. 4 , may be used to supplementstorage 308 or instead of storage 308.

Control circuitry 304 may include video generating circuitry and tuningcircuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, orany other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of suchcircuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog,or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided.Control circuitry 304 may also include scaler circuitry for upconvertingand downconverting content into the preferred output format of the userequipment 300. Circuitry 304 may also include digital-to-analogconverter circuitry and analog-to-digital converter circuitry forconverting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may be used by the user equipment device to receive and todisplay, to play, or to record content. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may also be used to receive guidance data. The circuitrydescribed herein, including for example, the tuning, video generating,encoding, decoding, encrypting, decrypting, scaler, and analog/digitalcircuitry, may be implemented using software running on one or moregeneral purpose or specialized processors. Multiple tuners may beprovided to handle simultaneous tuning functions (e.g., watch and recordfunctions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording,etc.). If storage 308 is provided as a separate device from userequipment 300, the tuning and encoding circuitry (including multipletuners) may be associated with storage 308.

A user may send instructions to control circuitry 304 using user inputinterface 310. User input interface 310 may be any suitable userinterface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard,touch screen, touchpad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognitioninterface, or other user input interfaces. Display 312 may be providedas a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of userequipment device 300. For example, display 312 may be a touchscreen ortouch-sensitive display. In such circumstances, user input interface 312may be integrated with or combined with display 312. Display 312 may beone or more of a monitor, a television, a liquid crystal display (LCD)for a mobile device, amorphous silicon display, low temperaturepolysilicon display, electronic ink display, electrophoretic display,active matrix display, electro-wetting display, electrofluidic display,cathode ray tube display, light-emitting diode display,electroluminescent display, plasma display panel, high-performanceaddressing display, thin-film transistor display, organic light-emittingdiode display, surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED), lasertelevision, carbon nanotubes, quantum dot display, interferometricmodulator display, or any other suitable equipment for displaying visualimages. In some embodiments, display 312 may be HDTV-capable. In someembodiments, display 312 may be a 3D display, and the interactive mediaguidance application and any suitable content may be displayed in 3D. Avideo card or graphics card may generate the output to the display 312.The video card may offer various functions such as accelerated renderingof 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or theability to connect multiple monitors. The video card may be anyprocessing circuitry described above in relation to control circuitry304. The video card may be integrated with the control circuitry 304.Speakers 314 may be provided as integrated with other elements of userequipment device 300 or may be stand-alone units. The audio component ofvideos and other content displayed on display 312 may be played throughspeakers 314. In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to areceiver (not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers314.

User equipment device 300 may also incorporate or be accessible todetection module 316. Detection module 316 may further include variouscomponents (e.g., a video detection component, an audio detectioncomponent, etc.) for determining and/or detecting changes to informationabout the travel itinerary. In some embodiments, detection module 316may include components that are specialized to generate particularinformation. For example, detection module 316 may include componentsfor use in detecting and/or retrieving information about a user and/orthe actions and/or activities of the user.

In some embodiments, detection module 316 may include an audio/videodetection component, which determines or receives information describingobjects in images and/or noise emanating from a user or other sources(e.g., a public address announcement related to a user's travelitinerary in an airport or airplane). Additionally or alternatively, theaudio detection component may monitor for images and/or soundsoriginating from other sources that may be related to a user's currenttrip or travel itinerary. In some embodiments, the audio/video detectioncomponent includes one or more sensors that transmit data to processingcircuitry 306, which determines a change and/or update to a user'stravel itinerary.

For example, detection module 316 may include one or morecontent-recognition modules, which may be used by the media guidanceapplication to analyze information received from a content capturedevice (e.g., video and/or audio recorder). For example, the mediaguidance application may include an object recognition module. Theobject recognition module may use edge detection, pattern recognition,including, but not limited to, self-learning systems (e.g., neuralnetworks), optical character recognition, on-line character recognition(including, but not limited to, dynamic character recognition, real-timecharacter recognition, intelligent character recognition), and/or anyother suitable technique or method to determine the objects in and/orcharacteristics of video and audio recordings. For example, the mediaguidance application may receive a media asset in the form of a video(e.g., an audio/video recording of travel announcements and in-flightinstructions). The video may include a series of frames. For each frameof the video, the media guidance application may use an objectrecognition module to determine the characteristics associated with eachframe (or the media assets as a whole) of the video to determineinformation related to the travel itinerary, a change to the travelitinerary, a portion of unconsumed content, etc.

In some embodiments, the content-recognition module or algorithm mayalso include audio analysis and speech recognition techniques,including, but not limited to, Hidden Markov Models, dynamic timewarping, and/or neural networks (as described above) to process audiodata and/or translate spoken words into text. The content-recognitionmodule may also use any other suitable techniques for processing audioand/or visual data. For example, the content-recognition module mayanalyze audio data to determine whether or not a user is talking.Furthermore, the content-recognition module may analyze video and/oraudio data to determine changes to a user's travel itinerary, a changeto the travel itinerary, etc.

In addition, the media guidance application may use multiple types ofoptical character recognition and/or fuzzy logic, for example, whencomparing multiple data fields (e.g., as contained in databasesdescribed below). For example, after the content-recognition module oralgorithm translates video and/or audio recordings into text, the mediaguidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304) maycross-reference the translated text with a database (e.g., located atstorage 308 or media guidance data source 418 (FIG. 4 )) to determinewhether or not the translated text corresponds to data associated with auser's travel itinerary, a change to the travel itinerary, etc.

For example, the media guidance application may arrange the text intodata fields and cross-reference the data fields with other data fields(e.g., in a lookup table database) corresponding to possible valuesassociated with a user's travel itinerary, a user status change, and/orobjective. Using fuzzy logic, the system may determine two fields and/orvalues to be identical, even though the substance of the data field orvalue (e.g., two different spellings) is not identical. In someembodiments, the system may analyze particular data fields of a datastructure or media asset frame for particular values or text. The datafields could be associated with characteristics, other data, and/or anyother information required for the function of the embodiments describedherein. Furthermore, the data fields could contain values (e.g., thedata fields could be expressed in binary or any other suitable code orprogramming language).

In some embodiments, detection module 316 may include a GlobalPositioning System (“GPS”) detection component, which determines orreceives information describing the geographic position of a user. Forexample, the GPS detection component may, additionally or alternatively,determine whether or not the user is taking a particular route (e.g.,whether or not the current position of a user corresponds to a positionin the route), is on schedule (e.g., whether or not the current positionof a user corresponds to the position the user is scheduled to be at inthe route based on the current time), or the current travelling speed ofthe user. In some embodiments, the GPS detection component includes oneor more sensors that transmit data to processing circuitry 306, whichdetermines a change and/or update to a user's travel itinerary, a changeto the travel itinerary, etc.

In some embodiments, detection module 316 may include an Internet accesscomponent, which determines or receives information describing thecurrent trip retrieved over the Internet. For example, the Internetaccess component may, additionally or alternatively, determine whetheror not information on the Internet (e.g., a website of an airline)indicates a change or update to the determined travel itinerary or thedetermined objective of the user. Additionally or alternatively,detection module 316 may include a vehicle access component, whichdetermines or receives information (e.g., from the odometer of a car)describing the current trip retrieved from the vehicle. For example, themedia guidance application may be configured to receive information fromthe flight control system of an airplane. In some embodiments, theInternet access component and vehicle access component may transmit datato processing circuitry 306, which determines a change and/or update toa user's travel itinerary, a user status, and/or objective.

For example, detection module 316 may access and/or receive commandsfrom systems and/or data associated with the method or mode oftransportation. For example, detection module 316 may receive specificinputs from the media control system associated with the method or modeof transportation (e.g., an airline IFE system). Furthermore, the mediaguidance application may incorporate information and/or commands. Forexample, during a flight, detection module 316 may incorporatepilot/flight attendant announcements, flight/navigation equipmentsignals, and/or data collected on previous flights to determine a travelitinerary, a change to the travel itinerary, etc.

The guidance application may be implemented using any suitablearchitecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone application whollyimplemented on user equipment device 300. In such an approach,instructions of the application are stored locally (e.g., in storage308), and data for use by the application is downloaded on a periodicbasis (e.g., from an out-of-band feed, from an Internet resource, orusing another suitable approach). Control circuitry 304 may retrieveinstructions of the application from storage 308 and process theinstructions to generate any of the displays discussed herein. Based onthe processed instructions, control circuitry 304 may determine whataction to perform when input is received from input interface 310. Forexample, movement of a cursor on a display up/down may be indicated bythe processed instructions when input interface 310 indicates that anup/down button was selected.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is a client-serverbased application. Data for use by a thick or thin client implemented onuser equipment device 300 is retrieved on-demand by issuing requests toa server remote to the user equipment device 300. In one example of aclient-server based guidance application, control circuitry 304 runs aweb browser that interprets web pages provided by a remote server. Forexample, the remote server may store the instructions for theapplication in a storage device. The remote server may process thestored instructions using circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 304) andgenerate the displays discussed above and below. The client device mayreceive the displays generated by the remote server and may display thecontent of the displays locally on equipment device 300. This way, theprocessing of the instructions is performed remotely by the server whilethe resulting displays are provided locally on equipment device 300.Equipment device 300 may receive inputs from the user via inputinterface 310 and transmit those inputs to the remote server forprocessing and generating the corresponding displays. For example,equipment device 300 may transmit a communication to the remote serverindicating that an up/down button was selected via input interface 310.The remote server may process instructions in accordance with that inputand generate a display of the application corresponding to the input(e.g., a display that moves a cursor up/down). The generated display isthen transmitted to equipment device 300 for presentation to the user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is downloaded andinterpreted or otherwise run by an interpreter or virtual machine (runby control circuitry 304). In some embodiments, the guidance applicationmay be encoded in the ETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF), received bycontrol circuitry 304 as part of a suitable feed, and interpreted by auser agent running on control circuitry 304. For example, the guidanceapplication may be an EBIF application. In some embodiments, theguidance application may be defined by a series of JAVA-based files thatare received and run by a local virtual machine or other suitablemiddleware executed by control circuitry 304. In some of suchembodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital mediaencoding schemes), the guidance application may be, for example, encodedand transmitted in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG audio andvideo packets of a program.

User equipment device 300 of FIG. 3 can be implemented in system 400 ofFIG. 4 as user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404,wireless user communications device 406, or any other type of userequipment suitable for accessing content, such as a non-portable gamingmachine. For simplicity, these devices may be referred to hereincollectively as user equipment or user equipment devices, and may besubstantially similar to user equipment devices described above. Userequipment devices, on which a media guidance application may beimplemented, may function as a standalone device or may be part of anetwork of devices. Various network configurations of devices may beimplemented and are discussed in more detail below.

A user equipment device utilizing at least some of the system featuresdescribed above in connection with FIG. 3 may not be classified solelyas user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, or awireless user communications device 406. For example, user televisionequipment 402 may, like some user computer equipment 404, beInternet-enabled allowing for access to Internet content, while usercomputer equipment 404 may, like some television equipment 402, includea tuner allowing for access to television programming. The mediaguidance application may have the same layout on various different typesof user equipment or may be tailored to the display capabilities of theuser equipment. For example, on user computer equipment 404, theguidance application may be provided as a web site accessed by a webbrowser. In another example, the guidance application may be scaled downfor wireless user communications devices 406.

In system 400, there is typically more than one of each type of userequipment device but only one of each is shown in FIG. 4 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing. In addition, each user may utilize morethan one type of user equipment device and also more than one of eachtype of user equipment device.

In some embodiments, a user equipment device (e.g., user televisionequipment 402, user computer equipment 404, wireless user communicationsdevice 406) may be referred to as a “second screen device.” For example,a second screen device may supplement content presented on a first userequipment device. The content presented on the second screen device maybe any suitable content that supplements the content presented on thefirst device. In some embodiments, the second screen device provides aninterface for adjusting settings and display preferences of the firstdevice. In some embodiments, the second screen device is configured forinteracting with other second screen devices or for interacting with asocial network. The second screen device can be located in the same roomas the first device, a different room from the first device but in thesame house or building, or in a different building from the firstdevice.

The user may also set various settings to maintain consistent mediaguidance application settings across in-home devices and remote devices.Settings include those described herein, as well as channel and programfavorites, programming preferences that the guidance applicationutilizes to make programming recommendations, display preferences, andother desirable guidance settings. For example, if a user sets a channelas a favorite on, for example, the web site www.allrovi.com on theirpersonal computer at their office, the same channel would appear as afavorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., user television equipmentand user computer equipment) as well as the user's mobile devices, ifdesired. Therefore, changes made on one user equipment device can changethe guidance experience on another user equipment device, regardless ofwhether they are the same or a different type of user equipment device.In addition, the changes made may be based on settings input by a user,as well as user activity monitored by the guidance application.

The user equipment devices may be coupled to communications network 414.Namely, user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, andwireless user communications device 406 are coupled to communicationsnetwork 414 via communications paths 408, 410, and 412, respectively.Communications network 414 may be one or more networks including theInternet, a mobile phone network, mobile voice or data network (e.g., a4G or LTE network), cable network, public switched telephone network, orother types of communications network or combinations of communicationsnetworks. Paths 408, 410, and 412 may separately or together include oneor more communications paths, such as, a satellite path, a fiber-opticpath, a cable path, a path that supports Internet communications (e.g.,IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast or other wirelesssignals), or any other suitable wired or wireless communications path orcombination of such paths. Path 412 is drawn with dotted lines toindicate that in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 4 it is awireless path and paths 408 and 410 are drawn as solid lines to indicatethey are wired paths (although these paths may be wireless paths, ifdesired). Communications with the user equipment devices may be providedby one or more of these communications paths, but are shown as a singlepath in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Although communications paths are not drawn between user equipmentdevices, these devices may communicate directly with each other viacommunication paths, such as those described above in connection withpaths 408, 410, and 412, as well as other short-range point-to-pointcommunication paths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wirelesspaths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or othershort-range communication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is acertification mark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The user equipmentdevices may also communicate with each other directly through anindirect path via communications network 414.

System 400 includes content source 416 and media guidance data source418 coupled to communications network 414 via communication paths 420and 422, respectively. Paths 420 and 422 may include any of thecommunication paths described above in connection with paths 408, 410,and 412. Communications with the content source 416 and media guidancedata source 418 may be exchanged over one or more communications paths,but are shown as a single path in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing. In addition, there may be more than one of each of contentsource 416 and media guidance data source 418, but only one of each isshown in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. (The differenttypes of each of these sources are discussed below.) If desired, contentsource 416 and media guidance data source 418 may be integrated as onesource device. Although communications between sources 416 and 418 withuser equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 are shown as throughcommunications network 414, in some embodiments, sources 416 and 418 maycommunicate directly with user equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 viacommunication paths (not shown) such as those described above inconnection with paths 408, 410, and 412.

Content source 416 may include one or more types of content distributionequipment including a television distribution facility, cable systemheadend, satellite distribution facility, programming sources (e.g.,television broadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediatedistribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers, on-demandmedia servers, and other content providers. NBC is a trademark owned bythe National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademark owned by theAmerican Broadcasting Company, Inc., and HBO is a trademark owned by theHome Box Office, Inc. Content source 416 may be the originator ofcontent (e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast provider, etc.) ormay not be the originator of content (e.g., an on-demand contentprovider, an Internet provider of content of broadcast programs fordownloading, etc.). Content source 416 may include cable sources,satellite providers, on-demand providers, Internet providers,over-the-top content providers, or other providers of content. Contentsource 416 may also include a remote media server used to storedifferent types of content (including video content selected by a user),in a location remote from any of the user equipment devices. Systems andmethods for remote storage of content, and providing remotely storedcontent to user equipment are discussed in greater detail in connectionwith Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,892, issued Jul. 20, 2010, whichis hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Media guidance data source 418 may provide media guidance data, such asthe media guidance data described above. Media guidance data may beprovided to the user equipment devices using any suitable approach. Insome embodiments, the guidance application may be a stand-aloneinteractive television program guide that receives program guide datavia a data feed (e.g., a continuous feed or trickle feed). Programschedule data and other guidance data may be provided to the userequipment on a television channel sideband, using an in-band digitalsignal, using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitabledata transmission technique. Program schedule data and other mediaguidance data may be provided to user equipment on multiple analog ordigital television channels.

In some embodiments, guidance data from media guidance data source 418may be provided to users' equipment using a client-server approach. Forexample, a user equipment device may pull media guidance data from aserver, or a server may push media guidance data to a user equipmentdevice. In some embodiments, a guidance application client residing onthe user's equipment may initiate sessions with source 418 to obtainguidance data when needed, e.g., when the guidance data is out of dateor when the user equipment device receives a request from the user toreceive data. Media guidance may be provided to the user equipment withany suitable frequency (e.g., continuously, daily, a user-specifiedperiod of time, a system-specified period of time, in response to arequest from user equipment, etc.). Media guidance data source 418 mayprovide user equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 the media guidanceapplication itself or software updates for the media guidanceapplication.

In some embodiments, the media guidance data may include viewer data.For example, the viewer data may include current and/or historical useractivity information (e.g., what content the user typically watches,what times of day the user watches content, whether the user interactswith a social network, at what times the user interacts with a socialnetwork to post information, what types of content the user typicallywatches (e.g., pay TV or free TV), mood, brain activity information,etc.). The media guidance data may also include subscription data. Forexample, the subscription data may identify to which sources or servicesa given user subscribes and/or to which sources or services the givenuser has previously subscribed but later terminated access (e.g.,whether the user subscribes to premium channels, whether the user hasadded a premium level of services, whether the user has increasedInternet speed). In some embodiments, the viewer data and/or thesubscription data may identify patterns of a given user for a period ofmore than one year. The media guidance data may include a model (e.g., asurvivor model) used for generating a score that indicates a likelihoodthat a given user will terminate access to a service/source. Forexample, the media guidance application may process the viewer data withthe subscription data using the model to generate a value or score thatindicates a likelihood of whether the given user will terminate accessto a particular service or source. In particular, a higher score mayindicate a higher level of confidence that the user will terminateaccess to a particular service or source. Based on the score, the mediaguidance application may generate promotions and advertisements thatentice the user to keep the particular service or source indicated bythe score as one to which the user will likely terminate access.

Media guidance applications may be, for example, stand-aloneapplications implemented on user equipment devices. For example, themedia guidance application may be implemented as software or a set ofexecutable instructions which may be stored in storage 308, and executedby control circuitry 304 of a user equipment device 300. In someembodiments, media guidance applications may be client-serverapplications where only a client application resides on the userequipment device, and server application resides on a remote server. Forexample, media guidance applications may be implemented partially as aclient application on control circuitry 304 of user equipment device 300and partially on a remote server as a server application (e.g., mediaguidance data source 418) running on control circuitry of the remoteserver. When executed by control circuitry of the remote server (such asmedia guidance data source 418), the media guidance application mayinstruct the control circuitry to generate the guidance applicationdisplays and transmit the generated displays to the user equipmentdevices. The server application may instruct the control circuitry ofthe media guidance data source 418 to transmit data for storage on theuser equipment. The client application may instruct control circuitry ofthe receiving user equipment to generate the guidance applicationdisplays.

Content and/or media guidance data delivered to user equipment devices402, 404, and 406 may be over-the-top (OTT) content. OTT contentdelivery allows Internet-enabled user devices, including any userequipment device described above, to receive content that is transferredover the Internet, including any content described above, in addition tocontent received over cable or satellite connections. OTT content isdelivered via an Internet connection provided by an Internet serviceprovider (ISP), but a third party distributes the content. The ISP maynot be responsible for the viewing abilities, copyrights, orredistribution of the content, and may only transfer IP packets providedby the OTT content provider. Examples of OTT content providers includeYOUTUBE, NETFLIX, and HULU, which provide audio and video via IPpackets. Youtube is a trademark owned by Google Inc., Netflix is atrademark owned by Netflix Inc., and Hulu is a trademark owned by Hulu,LLC. OTT content providers may additionally or alternatively providemedia guidance data described above. In addition to content and/or mediaguidance data, providers of OTT content can distribute media guidanceapplications (e.g., web-based applications or cloud-based applications),or the content can be displayed by media guidance applications stored onthe user equipment device.

Media guidance system 400 is intended to illustrate a number ofapproaches, or network configurations, by which user equipment devicesand sources of content and guidance data may communicate with each otherfor the purpose of accessing content and providing media guidance. Theembodiments described herein may be applied in any one or a subset ofthese approaches, or in a system employing other approaches fordelivering content and providing media guidance. The following fourapproaches provide specific illustrations of the generalized example ofFIG. 4 .

In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with each otherwithin a home network. User equipment devices can communicate with eachother directly via short-range point-to-point communication schemesdescribed above, via indirect paths through a hub or other similardevice provided on a home network, or via communications network 414.Each of the multiple individuals in a single home may operate differentuser equipment devices on the home network. As a result, it may bedesirable for various media guidance information or settings to becommunicated between the different user equipment devices. For example,it may be desirable for users to maintain consistent media guidanceapplication settings on different user equipment devices within a homenetwork, as described in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/179,410, filed Jul. 11, 2005. Different types ofuser equipment devices in a home network may also communicate with eachother to transmit content. For example, a user may transmit content fromuser computer equipment to a portable video player or portable musicplayer.

In a second approach, users may have multiple types of user equipment bywhich they access content and obtain media guidance. For example, someusers may have home networks that are accessed by in-home and mobiledevices. Users may control in-home devices via a media guidanceapplication implemented on a remote device. For example, users mayaccess an online media guidance application on a website via a personalcomputer at their office, or a mobile device such as a PDA orweb-enabled mobile telephone. The user may set various settings (e.g.,recordings, reminders, or other settings) on the online guidanceapplication to control the user's in-home equipment. The online guidemay control the user's equipment directly, or by communicating with amedia guidance application on the user's in-home equipment. Varioussystems and methods for user equipment devices communicating, where theuser equipment devices are in locations remote from each other, isdiscussed in, for example, Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,046,801, issuedOct. 25, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

In a third approach, users of user equipment devices inside and outsidea home can use their media guidance application to communicate directlywith content source 416 to access content. Specifically, within a home,users of user television equipment 402 and user computer equipment 404may access the media guidance application to navigate among and locatedesirable content. Users may also access the media guidance applicationoutside of the home using wireless user communications devices 406 tonavigate among and locate desirable content.

In a fourth approach, user equipment devices may operate in a cloudcomputing environment to access cloud services. In a cloud computingenvironment, various types of computing services for content sharing,storage or distribution (e.g., video sharing sites or social networkingsites) are provided by a collection of network-accessible computing andstorage resources, referred to as “the cloud.” For example, the cloudcan include a collection of server computing devices, which may belocated centrally or at distributed locations, that provide cloud-basedservices to various types of users and devices connected via a networksuch as the Internet via communications network 414. These cloudresources may include one or more content sources 416 and one or moremedia guidance data sources 418. In addition or in the alternative, theremote computing sites may include other user equipment devices, such asuser television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, and wirelessuser communications device 406. For example, the other user equipmentdevices may provide access to a stored copy of a video or a streamedvideo. In such embodiments, user equipment devices may operate in apeer-to-peer manner without communicating with a central server.

The cloud provides access to services, such as content storage, contentsharing, or social networking services, among other examples, as well asaccess to any content described above, for user equipment devices.Services can be provided in the cloud through cloud computing serviceproviders, or through other providers of online services. For example,the cloud-based services can include a content storage service, acontent sharing site, a social networking site, or other services viawhich user-sourced content is distributed for viewing by others onconnected devices. These cloud-based services may allow a user equipmentdevice to store content to the cloud and to receive content from thecloud rather than storing content locally and accessing locally-storedcontent.

A user may use various content capture devices, such as camcorders,digital cameras with video mode, audio recorders, mobile phones, andhandheld computing devices, to record content. The user can uploadcontent to a content storage service on the cloud either directly, forexample, from user computer equipment 404 or wireless usercommunications device 406 having content capture feature. Alternatively,the user can first transfer the content to a user equipment device, suchas user computer equipment 404. The user equipment device storing thecontent uploads the content to the cloud using a data transmissionservice on communications network 414. In some embodiments, the userequipment device itself is a cloud resource, and other user equipmentdevices can access the content directly from the user equipment deviceon which the user stored the content.

Cloud resources may be accessed by a user equipment device using, forexample, a web browser, a media guidance application, a desktopapplication, a mobile application, and/or any combination of accessapplications of the same. The user equipment device may be a cloudclient that relies on cloud computing for application delivery, or theuser equipment device may have some functionality without access tocloud resources. For example, some applications running on the userequipment device may be cloud applications, i.e., applications deliveredas a service over the Internet, while other applications may be storedand run on the user equipment device. In some embodiments, a user devicemay receive content from multiple cloud resources simultaneously. Forexample, a user device can stream audio from one cloud resource whiledownloading content from a second cloud resource. Or a user device candownload content from multiple cloud resources for more efficientdownloading. In some embodiments, user equipment devices can use cloudresources for processing operations such as the processing operationsperformed by processing circuitry described in relation to FIG. 3 .

FIG. 5 is a diagram describing a travel itinerary associated with acurrent trip of a user. It should be noted that display 500 isillustrative only and should not be taken to be limiting in any manner.For example, in some embodiments, one or more of the features of display100 and/or display 200 may be incorporated into display 500. Display 500may appear on the display (e.g., display 312 (FIG. 3 )) of a userequipment device (e.g., user equipment device 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG.4 )). Furthermore, in some embodiments, display 500 may receive inputsvia user input interface 310 (FIG. 3 ) and/or receive data via I/O path302 (FIG. 3 )).

Display 500 shows a graphical display of a travel itinerary associatedwith the current trip of the user. For example, display showsdestination location 502 and departure location 504. Display 500 alsoincludes travel route 506 and current position 510 as well as additionaldisplay information 508 (e.g., an International Date Line, times zonechanges, municipal borders, etc.). The media guidance application mayuse such information for determining whether or not the amount of timeof unconsumed content remaining in the media asset exceeds the amount oftime that the media asset is available to the user on the first device.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application determinesdestination location 502, departure location 504, travel route 506,and/or current position 510 based on various sources (e.g., user inputinterface 310 and/or detection module 316 (FIG. 3 )). For example, themedia guidance application may receive user inputs (e.g., via user inputinterface 310 (FIG. 3 )) into a display (e.g., display 500 (FIG. 5 )) todetermine one or more of destination location 502, departure location504, travel route 506, current position 510, and/or any otherinformation related to the travel itinerary (e.g., travel speed,refueling stops, layover lengths, etc.).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determine one ormore of destination location 502, departure location 504, travel route506, current position 510, and/or any other information related to thetravel itinerary without user input (e.g., via detection module 316(FIG. 3 )). For example, to determine the length of time of a currenttrip, the media guidance application may receive information from theairline (e.g., via accessing a website associated with the airline orreceiving an e-mail or other information from the airline). The mediaguidance application may additionally or alternatively receive route andlength of trip information from Internet sources (e.g., retrieved viaI/O path 302 (FIG. 3 )) that provide maps, directions, and/or otherfeatures for planning trips, while monitoring the current position ofthe user using retrieved GPS data (e.g., using detection module 316(FIG. 3 )).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may retrievedestination location 502, departure location 504, travel route 506,current position 510 and/or any other information related to the travelitinerary from a database. For example, the media guidance applicationmay determine the destination (e.g., destination location 502) of acurrent trip of a user. In addition, the media guidance application maydetermine the current position (e.g., current position 510) and speed ofthe user (e.g., via detection module 316 (FIG. 3 )). The media guidanceapplication may further determine the route (e.g., travel route 506)from the current position of the user to the destination bycross-referencing a database related to route information. For example,the media guidance application may incorporate or have access to a local(e.g., located at storage 308 (FIG. 3 )) or remote (e.g., located atmedia content source 416 (FIG. 4 )), media guidance data source 418(FIG. 4 ), and/or a device/location accessible via communicationsnetwork 414 (FIG. 4 )) database (e.g., a lookup table) in which themedia guidance application may input the destination and currentposition to determine the shortest and/or quickest route.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, the media guidance application maycompute (e.g., via processing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3 )) the destinationlocation 502, departure location 504, travel route 506, current position510 and/or any other information related to the travel itinerary basedon mathematical computations involve other characteristics of the travelitinerary. For example, having determined the distance to thedestination (e.g., destination location 502) from the current positionof a user (e.g., current position 510), the route (e.g., travel route506), and/or speed of travel from one or more of the methods describedabove, the media guidance application may apply suitable mathematicaloperations (e.g., dividing the distance by the speed to determine thelength of time remaining in the current trip) to determine any otherinformation related to the travel itinerary.

In some embodiments, display 500 may correspond to a media asset, orcontent displayed in conjunction with, a media asset displayed invehicle or on a user device (e.g., a smartphone) provided by a thirdparty (e.g., a common carrier) for use by the user in monitoring theprogress of his or her current trip. For example, in some embodiments,in response to a user selection (e.g., via user interface 310 (FIG. 3 ))requesting that media content be completed during the current trip ofthe user, the media guidance application may be receiving information(e.g., airplane schedule, train schedule, bus schedule, etc.) indicatingthe travel itinerary of the user. Furthermore, in some embodiments, themedia guidance application may receive user inputs (e.g., via user inputinterface 310 (FIG. 3 )) of one or more criteria (e.g., destinationlocation 502, departure location 504, travel route 506, and/or currentposition 510) in order for the media guidance application to update adetermined travel itinerary of the user to determine an availabilitywindow associated with the current trip and/or the amount of timeremaining in the current trip of the user. Alternatively oradditionally, the media guidance application may continuously and/orautomatically retrieve data provided by a third party related to thetravel itinerary or changes to the travel itinerary to determine theavailability window of length of time remaining in the current trip.

For example, based on the current position of the user (e.g., asdetermined by detection module 316 (FIG. 3 )), information received viauser input interface 310 (FIG. 3 ), mathematical computations ofprocessing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3 ), and/or information received from across-reference with a database located at storage 308 (FIG. 3 ), mediacontent source 416 (FIG. 4 ), media guidance data source 418 (FIG. 4 ),and/or a device/location accessible via communications network 414 (FIG.4 )), the media guidance application may determine an availabilitywindow associated with the current trip and/or the amount of timeremaining in the current trip of the user based on real-time data suchthat changes to the travel itinerary (e.g., delays) may be accountedfor.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of illustrative steps for generating for displayan indication that a portion is available for download to a seconddevice. It should be noted that process 600 or any step thereof could beperformed on, or provided by, any of the devices shown in FIGS. 3-4 .For example, process 600 may be executed by control circuitry 304 (FIG.3 ) as instructed by a media guidance application implemented on a userdevice (e.g., user equipment devices 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG. 4 )) inorder to generate for display an indication that a portion is availablefor download to a second device. In addition, one or more steps ofprocess 600 may be incorporated into or combined with one or more stepsof any other process or embodiment (e.g., as described in relation toFIGS. 7-9 )).

At step 602, the media guidance application generates for display (e.g.,via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3 )) a media listing for a media asset.For example, the media listing may be a selectable listing that allows auser access or gain authorization to access the media asset. In someembodiments, the media listing may appear alongside other medialistings.

At step 604, the media guidance application compares (e.g., via controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3 )) an amount of time of unconsumed (e.g.,unwatched, unheard, unread, etc.) content remaining in the media assetand an amount of time that the media asset is available to a user on afirst device. For example, the media guidance application may determine(e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3 )) the amount of time ofunconsumed content remaining in the media asset and may determine (e.g.,via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3 )) the amount of time the media assetis available to the user on the first device. In some embodiments, theamount of time the media asset is available to the user on the firstdevice may be based on (and/or retrieved from storage 308 (FIG. 3 )and/or any location accessible via communications network 414 (FIG. 4 ))a length of a subscription to a content provider that provides the mediaasset (e.g., a monthly subscription, a one-time use subscription such asa pay-per-view movie, a one-device only subscription such as astationary video player on an airplane, etc.), a battery-life of thefirst device (e.g., the amount of battery-life left in the first devicewill not be enough to fully consume the media asset), and/or ascheduling restriction of the user (e.g., the user most stop consuming amedia asset due to a prior engagement). Furthermore, in someembodiments, the media guidance application may perform the comparison(and/or any determinations) prior to play back of the media asset and/orduring play back of the media asset. For example, the media guidanceapplication may prompt a user to select a media listing by informing theuser that unconsumed portions of the media asset will be available lateror on a different device. Alternatively or additionally, the mediaguidance application may continually monitor the progress of the user toinform them of whether or not he or she will finish the media asset (orwhether the unconsumed portion will need to be consumed later or on adifferent device).

At step 606, in response to determining that the amount of time ofunconsumed content remaining in the media asset exceeds the amount oftime that the media asset is available to the user on the first device,the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) generates for display an indication (e.g., indication 130 (FIG. 1 )or indication 204 (FIG. 2 )) that a portion of the media asset,corresponding to the unconsumed content remaining in the media asset, isavailable for download to a second device. For example, in response todetermining that the user may not be able to consume the entirety of themedia asset, the media guidance application may allow the user to accessthe unconsumed portion on a second device. In some embodiments, theindication may be simultaneously displayed with the media listing (e.g.,in order to prompt the user to select the media asset for play back asdiscussed above).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may generate fordisplay the indication in response to detecting authorization data. Forexample, the media guidance application may authorize another device toaccess a copy of the media asset, currently being consumed by the user,and stored at a particular repository. In such cases, the media guidanceapplication may authorize the other device to access the copy of themedia asset at one time. Alternatively or additionally, the mediaguidance application may create a copy of the media asset, or a portionof the media asset, for continued viewing on another device.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may, in response toa user selection of the indication, a subsequent user request, and/orthe end of a period of accessibility, extract the portion of the mediaasset that is not consumed and transmit (e.g., to another component ofthe device upon which the media guidance application is implemented, tothe second device, and/or to a third device (e.g., a web server) aninstruction to create a new media asset featuring only the portion ofthe media asset. For example, the new media asset may then be availablefor download to the second device (e.g., from the web server).

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 6 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 6 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method. Furthermore, it should be noted that anyof the devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 3-4 could beused to perform one or more of the steps in FIG. 6 .

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of illustrative steps for comparing the amount oftime of unconsumed content remaining in the media asset to a thresholdamount of time. It should be noted that process 700 or any step thereofcould be performed on, or provided by, any of the devices shown in FIGS.3-4 . For example, process 700 may be executed by control circuitry 304(FIG. 3 ) as instructed by a media guidance application implemented on auser device (e.g., user equipment devices 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG. 4)) in order to compare the amount of time of unconsumed contentremaining in the media asset to a threshold amount of time. In addition,one or more steps of process 700 may be incorporated into or combinedwith one or more steps of any other process or embodiment (e.g., asdescribed in relation to FIGS. 6 and 8-9 )).

The media guidance application may wish to limit when a portion of themedia asset may be available on a second device. For example, if asubstantial portion of the media asset is available on the seconddevice, the disincentive to share the media asset is decreased.Likewise, if only a factor of the media asset (e.g., a few minutes orframes), or only a portion that the user is unlikely to wish to viewremains unconsumed (e.g., the end credits) the media guidanceapplication may determine not to allow a user to access the portion onanother device.

For example, in response to determining that the amount of time ofunconsumed content remaining in the media asset exceeds the amount oftime that the media asset is available to the user on the first device,the media guidance application may retrieve a threshold amount of time(e.g., indicating the minimum or maximum amount of unconsumed contentthat triggers subsequent access to the portion of the media asset thatis unconsumed. The media guidance application may compare the amount oftime of unconsumed content remaining in the media asset to the thresholdamount of time and in response to determining that the amount of time ofunconsumed content remaining in the media asset does not correspond to(e.g., exceeds the threshold minimum or exceeds the threshold maximum)the threshold amount of time, not generating for display the indicationthat the portion of the media asset is available for download to thesecond device. It should be noted that one or more threshold may beused.

At step 702, the media guidance application determines (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3 )) an amount of time a media asset isavailable to a user on a first device. For example, the media guidanceapplication may retrieve a term of use, battery life of a device, amountof time remaining in a current trip etc. At step 704, the media guidanceapplication determines (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3 )) anamount of time of unconsumed content remaining in the media asset. Forexample, the media guidance application may retrieve (e.g., from storage308 (FIG. 3 ) and/or any device accessible via communications network414 (FIG. 4 )) an amount of currently unwatched content.

At step 706, the media guidance application compares (e.g., via controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3 )) the amount of time the media asset is availableto the amount of time of unconsumed content remaining in the mediaasset. For example, as described in relation to FIG. 6 , the mediaguidance application may determine (e.g., via control circuitry 304(FIG. 3 )) the amount of time of unconsumed content remaining in themedia asset and may determine (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) the amount of time the media asset is available to the user on thefirst device.

In some embodiments, the amount of time the media asset is available tothe user on the first device may be based on (and/or retrieved fromstorage 308 (FIG. 3 ) and/or any location accessible via communicationsnetwork 414 (FIG. 4 )) a length of a subscription to a content providerthat provides the media asset (e.g., a monthly subscription, a one-timeuse subscription such as a pay-per-view movie, a one-device onlysubscription such as a stationary video player on an airplane, etc.), abattery-life of the first device (e.g., the amount of battery-life leftin the first device will not be enough to fully consume the mediaasset), and/or a scheduling restriction of the user (e.g., the user muststop consuming a media asset due to a prior engagement).

Furthermore, in some embodiments, the media guidance application mayperform the comparison (and/or any determinations) prior to play back ofthe media asset and/or during play back of the media asset. For example,the media guidance application may prompt a user to select a medialisting by informing the user that unconsumed portions of the mediaasset will be available later or on a different device. Alternatively oradditionally, the media guidance application may continually monitor theprogress of the user to inform them of whether or not he or she willfinish the media asset (or whether the unconsumed portion will need tobe consumed later or on a different device).

At step 708, in response to determining that the amount of time ofunconsumed content remaining in the media asset exceeds the amount oftime that the media asset is available to the user on the first device,the media guidance application retrieves (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3 )) a threshold amount of time. For example, the mediaguidance application may retrieve the threshold amount from storage 308(FIG. 3 ) and/or any location accessible via communications network 414(FIG. 4 )). The threshold (e.g., the minimum and/or maximum time, frame,etc.) may be determine by a third party, industry standard, etc.

At step 710, the media guidance application compares (e.g., controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3 )) the amount of time of unconsumed contentremaining in the media asset to the threshold amount of time. At step712, the media guidance application generate for display (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3 )) the indication that the portion of themedia asset is available for download to the second device in responseto determining that the amount of time of unconsumed content remainingin the media asset corresponds to the threshold amount of time.Alternatively, the media guidance application does not generate fordisplay (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3 )) the indication thatthe portion of the media asset is available for downloading to thesecond device in response to determining that the amount of time ofunconsumed content remaining in the media asset does not correspond tothe threshold amount of time.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 7 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 7 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method. Furthermore, it should be noted that anyof the devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 3-4 could beused to perform one or more of the steps in FIG. 7 .

FIGS. 8 and 9 present processes for control circuitry (e.g., controlcircuitry 304) for determining whether to generate for display anindication that a portion of the media asset, corresponding to theunconsumed content remaining in the media asset, is available fordownload to a second device. In some embodiments, this algorithm may beencoded on to non-transitory storage medium (e.g., storage device 308)as a set of instructions to be decoded and executed by processingcircuitry (e.g., processing circuitry 306). Processing circuitry may inturn provide instructions to other sub-circuits contained within controlcircuitry 304, such as the tuning, video generating, encoding, decoding,encrypting, decrypting, scaling, analog/digital conversion circuitry,and the like.

The flowchart in FIG. 8 describes a process implemented on controlcircuitry (e.g., control circuitry 304) to determine whether to generatefor display an indication that a portion of the media asset,corresponding to the unconsumed content remaining in the media asset, isavailable for download to a second device. Process 800 may involve oneor more step of FIGS. 6 and 7 .

At step 802, control circuitry 304 begins a routine to determine whetherto generate for display an indication that a portion of the media asset,corresponding to the unconsumed content remaining in the media asset, isavailable for download to a second device. In some embodiments, this maybe done either directly or indirectly in response to a user action orinput (e.g., from signals received by control circuitry 304 or userinput interface 310). For example, the process may begin directly inresponse to control circuitry 304 receiving signals from user inputinterface 310, or control circuitry 304 may prompt the user to confirmtheir input using a display (e.g., by generating a prompt to bedisplayed on display 312) prior to running the algorithm.

At step 804, control circuitry 304 proceeds to retrieve the amount oftime of unconsumed content remaining in the media asset and the amountof time that the media asset is available to a user on a first device.In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 may receive a singleprimitive data structure that represents the value of the nextcriterion. In some embodiments, the value may be stored as part of alarger data structure, and control circuitry 304 may retrieve the valueby executing appropriate accessor methods to retrieve the value from thelarger data structure.

At step 806, control circuitry 304 proceeds to compare the amount oftime of unconsumed content remaining in the media asset and the amountof time that the media asset is available to a user on a first device.In some embodiments, the value of the difference may be stored (e.g., onstorage device 308). In some embodiments, the value of difference mayalso be retrieved for comparison to one ore more thresholds (e.g., asdiscussed in relation to FIG. 7 )). In some embodiments, controlcircuitry 304 may directly compare the value of the amount of time ofunconsumed content remaining in the media asset and the value of theamount of time that the media asset is available to a user on a firstdevice by accessing the values respectively from memory and performing avalue comparison. In some instances, control circuitry 304 may call acomparison function (e.g., for object to object comparison) to comparecriteria in the user profile modification and criteria in the userprofile.

At step 808, control circuitry 304 compares the value of the amount oftime of unconsumed content remaining in the media asset and the amountof time that the media asset is available to a user on a first device todetermine if the value of the amount of time of unconsumed contentremaining in the media asset exceeds the value of the amount of timethat the media asset is available to a user on a first device. If thecondition is satisfied (e.g., the user will not be able to consume theremainder of the media asset), process 800 proceeds to step 810; if thecondition is not satisfied, process 800 returns to step 804 instead.

At step 810, control circuitry 304 executes a subroutine to retrieve acontinued viewing option based on the condition at step 808 beingsatisfied. After the subroutine is executed, process 800 proceeds tostep 812.

At step 812, control circuitry 304 executes a subroutine to generate fordisplay an indication that a portion of the media asset, correspondingto the unconsumed content remaining in the media asset, is available fordownload to a second device.

It is contemplated that the descriptions of FIG. 8 may be used with anyother embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the descriptionsdescribed in relation to the algorithm of FIG. 5 may be done inalternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of thisdisclosure. For example, conditional statements and logical evaluations,such as those at 808 and 812, may be performed in any order or inparallel or simultaneously to reduce lag or increase the speed of thesystem or method. As a further example, in some embodiments severalinstances of the criteria in the user profile modification may beevaluated in parallel, using multiple logical processor threads, or thealgorithm may be enhanced by incorporating branch prediction.Furthermore, it should be noted that the process of FIG. 8 may beimplemented on a combination of appropriately configured software andhardware, and that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relationto FIGS. 3-4 could be used to implement one or more portions of theprocess.

The pseudocode in FIG. 9 describes a process to generate for display anindication that a portion of the media asset, corresponding to theunconsumed content remaining in the media asset, is available fordownload to a second device. It will be evident to one skilled in theart that the process described by the pseudocode in FIG. 9 may beimplemented in any number of programming languages and a variety ofdifferent hardware, and that the style and format should not beconstrued as limiting, but rather a general template of the steps andprocedures that would be consistent with code used to implement someembodiments of this disclosure.

At line 901, control circuitry 304 initializes a subroutine to determinewhether to generate for display an indication that a portion of themedia asset, corresponding to the unconsumed content remaining in themedia asset, is available for download to a second device, which beginson line 905. At line 903, control circuitry 304 runs a routine toretrieve the amount of time of unconsumed content remaining in the mediaasset and the amount of time that the media asset is available to a useron a first device. For example, in some embodiments control circuitry304 may copy instructions from non-transitory storage medium (e.g.,storage device 308) into RAM or into the cache for processing circuitry306 during the initialization stage. Additionally, in some embodimentsthe value of a threshold amount of time, used for comparison, or atolerance level for determining if two values are essentiallyequivalent, may be retrieved, set, and stored at 901.

At line 905, control circuitry 304 receives the amount of time ofunconsumed content remaining in the media asset and the amount of timethat the media asset is available to a user on a first device. In someembodiments, these amounts may be retrieved from memory. Controlcircuitry 304 may receive these amounts by receiving, for example, apointer to an array of values of amounts in the user profile for variousmedia assets. In another example, control circuitry 304 may receive anobject of a class, such as an iterator object containing elements of thevarious media assets and/or indicator of viewing progress of a user.

At line 906, control circuitry 304 iterates through the various mediaassets, if only a single instance is available, the loop will onlyexecute once. This loop may be implemented in multiple fashionsdepending on the choice of hardware and software language used toimplement the algorithm of FIG. 9 ; for example, this may be implementedas part of a “for” or “while” loop.

At line 907, control circuitry 304 stores the value of amount of time ofunconsumed content remaining in the media asset into a temporaryvariable “A.” In some embodiments, the value will be stored as part of alarger data structure or class, and the value may be obtained throughappropriate accessor methods. In some embodiments, the value may beconverted from a string or other non-numeric data type into a numericdata type by means of an appropriate hashing algorithm. In someembodiments, control circuitry 304 may call a function to perform acomparison of the value and a threshold. In some embodiments, thethreshold may be encoded as a primitive data structure, and rather thanusing a temporary variable, the threshold may be directly used in thecomparisons at line 909.

At line 908, control circuitry 304 stores the value of the amount oftime that the media asset is available to a user on a first device intoa temporary variable “B.” Similar to line 907, in some embodiments thevalue will be stored as part of a larger data structure or class, andthe value may be obtained through accessor methods. In some embodiments,value may be converted from a string or other non-numeric data type intoa numeric data type by means of an appropriate hashing algorithm, or thevalue may be a primitive data structure, and may be directly used in thecomparisons at lines 909.

At line 909, control circuitry 304 compares the value of the amount oftime of unconsumed content remaining in the media asset and the value ofthe amount of time that the media asset is available to a user on afirst device. For example, the media guidance application compares thevalue of the amount of time of unconsumed content remaining in the mediaasset and the amount of time that the media asset is available to a useron a first device to determine if the value of the amount of time ofunconsumed content remaining in the media asset exceeds the value of theamount of time that the media asset is available to a user on a firstdevice.

At line 910, control circuitry 304 executes a subroutine to retrieve acontinued viewing option based on the condition being satisfied. At line912, control circuitry 304 executes a subroutine to generate for displayan indication that a portion of the media asset, corresponding to theunconsumed content remaining in the media asset, is available fordownload to a second device.

At line 912, control circuitry 304 runs a termination subroutine afterthe algorithm has performed its function. For example, in someembodiments control circuitry 304 may destruct variables, performgarbage collection, free memory or clear the cache of processingcircuitry 306.

It will be evident to one skilled in the art that process 900 describedby the pseudocode in FIG. 9 may be implemented in any number ofprogramming languages and a variety of different hardware, and theparticular choice and location of primitive functions, logicalevaluations, and function evaluations are not intended to be limiting.It will also be evident that the code may be refactored or rewritten tomanipulate the order of the various logical evaluations, perform severaliterations in parallel rather than in a single iterative loop, or tootherwise manipulate and optimize run-time and performance metricswithout fundamentally changing the inputs or final outputs. For example,in some embodiments break conditions may be placed after lines 910 and912 to speed operation, or the conditional statements may be replacedwith a case-switch.

The above-described embodiments of the present disclosure are presentedfor purposes of illustration and not of limitation, and the presentdisclosure is limited only by the claims that follow. Furthermore, itshould be noted that the features and limitations described in any oneembodiment may be applied to any other embodiment herein, and flowchartsor examples relating to one embodiment may be combined with any otherembodiment in a suitable manner, done in different orders, or done inparallel. In addition, the systems and methods described herein may beperformed in real time. It should also be noted that the systems and/ormethods described above may be applied to, or used in accordance with,other systems and/or methods.

1.-50. (canceled)
 51. A method for alerting users regarding availability of unconsumed content, the method comprising: generating for display a media asset; estimating, based on a user's viewing progress, a completion date on which a user will complete viewing the media asset; determining whether the completion date falls within a time period during which the media asset is available to the user; and in response to determining that the completion date falls outside the time period, generating for display an indication that a portion of the media asset, corresponding to the unconsumed content remaining in the media asset, is available for download.
 52. The method of claim 51, wherein: the media asset is a series comprising a plurality of episodes; estimating the completion date comprises determining a portion of the series consumed by the user during a single viewing session and determining a number of viewing sessions required to consume all remaining portions of the series.
 53. The method of claim 52, wherein: estimating the completion date further comprises determining a frequency at which the user conducts the viewing sessions; and the completion date is estimated based on a current date and the determined frequency.
 54. The method of claim 51, wherein: estimating the date of completion comprises dividing the amount of unconsumed content by a rate at which the user views the media asset.
 55. The method of claim 51, wherein: the media asset is a series of media content; and estimating the date of completion comprises: determining a length of the series of media content; determining an amount of time required to consume the entire series of media content based on a rate at which the user consumes the series of media content and the length of the series of media content; adding the determined amount of time to a current date.
 56. The method of claim 52, wherein an end of the time period corresponds to a date associated with release of new media content in the series.
 57. The method of claim 53, wherein an end of the time period corresponds to a date associated with release of new media content in the series.
 58. The method of claim 51, further comprising: in response to a user selection to download the unconsumed content, creating a new media asset corresponding to the unconsumed content remaining in the media asset for download.
 59. A system for alerting users regarding availability of unconsumed content, the system comprising: input/output circuitry; and processing circuitry configured to: cause to generate for display a media asset; estimate, based on a user's viewing progress, a completion date on which a user will complete viewing the media asset; determine whether the completion date falls within a time period during which the media asset is available to the user; and in response to determining that the completion date falls outside the time period, generate for display an indication that a portion of the media asset, corresponding to the unconsumed content remaining in the media asset, is available for download.
 60. The system of claim 59, wherein the media asset is a series comprising a plurality of episodes, and the processing circuitry is further configured to estimate the completion date by determining a portion of the series of media content consumed by the user during a single viewing session and determine a number of viewing sessions required to consume all remaining portions of the series of media content.
 61. The system of claim 60, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to estimate the completion date based on a current date and a frequency at which the user conducts the viewing sessions.
 62. The system of claim 59, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to estimate the date of completion by dividing an amount of the unconsumed media content by a rate at which the user views the media content.
 63. The system of claim 59, wherein the media asset is a series of media content; and the processing circuitry is further configured to estimate the date of completion by: determining a length of the series of media content; determining an amount of time required to consume the entire series of media content based on a rate at which the user consumes the series of media content and the length of the series of media content; and adding the determined amount of time to a current date.
 64. The system of claim 60, wherein an end of the time period corresponds to a date associated with release of new media content in the series.
 65. The system of claim 59, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: in response to a user selection to download the unconsumed content, create a new media asset corresponding to the unconsumed content remaining in the media asset for download. 